Ingress
by ashenchaos
Summary: "What? Am I too fast fo-" Next thing I know I'm pressed up against a tree by the one and only speedster. Naturally, my face turned a vibrant shade of red. "No one is too fast for me." he replied with an infuriating smirk on his face. Pietro/OC
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

I woke up to the sound of alarms wailing.

Apparently a girl can't get her beauty sleep around here. Not that it matters, I have more scars on my body than I've managed to keep track of from my 4 years of being a HYDRA lab rat. So being a model is impossible even if i wanted to be one. But why would anyone willingly give up the sweet bliss of ice cream and fast food? It will always be a mystery to me. I would give anything to go back to the days where my biggest fear was presenting an essay to the class. Now, all i want to do is get through the day and live to see tomorrow without to much suffering.

BOOM!

The ground trembled beneath me. It sounds like a war is going on out there. By now, the alarms have stopped their ear-piercing screeches. I could hear the sound of guns firing all the way from inside my little jail cell.

This won't end well for me either way. If HYDRA prevails, i go back to being experimented on. If the other people win, whoever they are, there is no guarantee that i won't become another plaything for them too.

I can the feel the beginning of a panic attack coming. I cant do this anymore. I can't continue living like this. My chest rose up and down rapidly from my irregular breathing. I have to get out of here. I won't get another chance like this. I just have to get out of the chain wrapped around my ankle attached to the wall. The rest should be relatively easy.

Because i can create portals.

10 minutes later i was clawing at my ankle with tears of frustration threatening to spill over. I tried everything i could to get it off; pulling, banging, picking the lock. It just wouldn't get off! "Come on, come on, come on!" I furiously whispered to myself while i proceeded to try to yank my ankle out by force. The skin touching the chains was raw and dripping blood from all the pulling. I could barely see anymore as i was now freely sobbing trying to get free.

Click! Fear paralyzed me as i heard the door creak open. "Is anyone in here?" a deep male voice called out. I stopped breathing and froze in place. He couldn't see me as i was three jail cells away from the door. All HYDRA agents knew i was in here so it had to be the attackers. Could they be trusted? I knew i couldn't get out of here by myself. It was painstakingly obvious.

As the door was about to be closed, i made a split second decision and croaked out "Wait!". I waited for what seemed like years for the footsteps to make it to me. There was a tall and very broad, masked man staring at me. The first thing i noticed was that he was wearing a weird tight suit that was red, white and blue. The next was that he had a huge shield with a star in the middle. I could've sworn i saw him before…..

I must've been a sight to see. With dried blood matted in my tangled purple hair which was a side effect of the powers i gained because of a freak accident. It starts at a dark orchid purple then gradually gets lighter until it turns blonde at the tips which was the original color of my hair. He probably saw a way too skinny girl in a short, plain, white hospital gown type dress on. There was also the newly acquired scrapes still oozing blood down my ankle onto the dirty floor. And then there were my light blue-grey eyes probably glowing brighter than ever in the midst of all that mayhem that was me. All in all i would make an amazing model. Notice the sarcasm.

"Who are you? What did they do to you? How old are you? Are you an enhanced?" he sent out a flurry of questions all at once. My mind was reeling trying to keep track of all of the questions. I only had one question that was consuming me from the inside. "Are you going to hurt me?" I breathed out in a shaky voice. He just stared at me for a minute. "Don't worry ma'am. I won't hurt you. I am here to take down HYDRA with my team. I can help you." he finally answered trying to reassure me. I contemplated his answer. It seemed believable and he didn't look like he was lying. "Who are you?" I questioned.

"Captain America at your service ma'am" he answered after a pause.

Of course he was. That's why he seemed so familiar. Wasn't he supposed to be trapped in ice? Either way, after learning his identity, I was sure that i was finally going to be rescued from this hellhole. After all, Captain America was a nationwide hero. He could definitely be trusted.

After thinking it over, I finally responded to his first question, "My name is Adrianna and I was captured by HYDRA when i was 14. I am 17 now."


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

"Watch out!"

I ducked right before i got shot by a HYDRA agent who snuck up behind me. Sneaky bastard! He tried to take me out from the back! "Oh you are _so_ going to regret that." I muttered while creating a portal. A second later a dark purple portal appeared behind the dude that almost killed me and I jumped out. I knocked him out quickly. "Told you." I remarked to the now unconscious man with a smirk. I nodded my head towards Hawkeye as a silent thanks for the warning.

I had changed a lot since I was rescued. It had been a year. I was eighteen now. My scars were fading away and I finally looked healthy again. I was no longer the damsel in distress I used to be. Today, I had my purple hair in a high pony tail with my bangs clipped up. I had an all-black outfit on. It consisted of a tank top and leggings for flexibility with black knee high combat boots. I wore black fingerless gloves on both hands to have a good grip on the pitch black polearm I was wielding that has two spear-like blades on both sides of the pole. It can detach into two parts if I wanted it to. It is covered in intricate silver designs. I also have two guns secured in a holster around my waist.

I looked pretty badass if you asked me.

"Shit!" Tony Stark cursed through the intercom. Almost immediately he got reprimanded by the Captain saying "Language." in a tone that a mother uses to scold her child. I snickered. I knew that one would be used against him for a while. "There is some type of energy shield surrounding the main building." Jarvis informed us. "Oh great. That just makes getting the scepter twice as hard!" I complained while sidestepping to the right and whipping out my guns, taking out another 5 people.

Seriously, why couldn't my life be easy for once?

"Wait a second. Is no one else going to deal with the fact that the Cap' just said _language?"_ Iron Man questioned. "I know. It just slipped out." Steve replied with a sigh. Ha! I knew that was coming. I bet the whole team will have fun with this. The poor guy will never hear the end of it.

I went back to assisting the Avengers by creating portals for them to jump through and taking out more people by myself. It was pretty cool. Too bad the main building is way too far away though. Otherwise I could've created a portal to take me or someone else into there. It would have been way easier. I can't create portals over long distances for some reason. I end up getting a massive headache and my nose bleeds. I don't think that's good news for my brain so I try to refrain from doing that. By the time I get there I'm pretty sure Jarvis would have infiltrated the building so I'm just going to stick to fighting down here.

"We must retrieve the scepter!" Thor declared when Tony finally got through the defense. Crack! I knocked another 2 HYDRA agents down with my polearm while the Black Widow was covering my back shooting at the others in rapid succession. The Hulk was nearby smashing everything in sight. "Do me a favor and kick their asses for me." I told the iron clad billionaire. I had a score to settle with these people and I'm not going to rest until all of them were gone. I can't let anyone else get hurt like I did, as cliche as that sounds.

"I was waiting for you to ask."

I opened a portal taking me to Hawkeye. He didn't look the least bit fazed by my sudden appearance. I guess he got used to it. He was trying to blow up a base that was firing at us at the moment. I got him a little closer via portal behind a tree so he could shoot one of his explosive arrows at it while taking cover from the bullets at the same time. I never understood how those arrows worked. Technology really did come a long way. God, now I sound like Captain America.

He shot an arrow and both of us took cover behind one of the trees there so we wouldn't get shredded by the resulting shrapnel from the blast. We waited for a second and nothing happened. That arrow should've exploded by now. Even if it missed, which is highly unlikely, it would have still exploded anyway. So, what the hell happened?

As Hawkeye turned around and took aim again, I decided to watch closely. I saw a blur of blue and silver go by really fast and then I hear Hawkeye on the ground groaning. Before I even had time to react, the world began to spin violently as I flew through the air. I landed with a thud on my stomach next to the talented archer. Thank god there was snow. Otherwise, that would have hurt a lot. "Ughhhh." I groaned while rolling over onto my back. That was when I heard the sound of a deep, gruff voice with an accent that made me weak in the knees.

"What, you didn't see that coming?"


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"What, you didn't see that coming?"

There is one thing you should know about me; I never back down from a challenge. Even if that challenge is issued by an extremely good-looking guy with a physique to die for. I refuse to go down without a good fight. Especially, since he looked so smug standing there, looking down at my groaning form.

Just as he was about to speed away, I sprang into action. I quickly jumped up and used my polearm to vault off the ground. I landed in front of him and crouched down so I could knock him off of his feet. He landed with a thud. Now he knows how that feels. It was my turn to look smug now. "What, am I too fast fo-" Next thing I know, I was pressed up against a tree by the one and only speedster. Naturally, my face turned a vibrant shade of red. "No one is too fast for me." he replied with an infuriating smirk on his face.

And then he was gone in the blink of an eye.

"Damn it!" I hissed. He outwitted me! And embarrassed me! Well, that was a huge blow to my ego. At least I knocked him down a peg at the same time. I had to admit though, he was good. He was also pretty attractive which was always a plus. But he was on HYDRA's side. It would never work. The stupid HYDRA base that we tried to take down was still shooting at us. I ducked to avoid any injuries from the rapidly fired bullets. I really need a break from all of this craziness. "What happened?" Natasha asked as she ran over to Clint and me. He was writhing in pain on the ground. My eyes widened.

Apparently, Hawkeye got shot while I was preoccupied with the enhanced. How the hell didn't I notice that? "Hawkeye is down. He needs medical attention immediately." The Black Widow reported while examining the wound. It looked pretty bad; like there was a hole in him. I immediately felt nauseous just looking at the wound. It was ghastly looking with blood around the edges of the wound, slowly seeping out. She gave me a pointed look, silently asking me to answer the question she asked before.

"There is an enhanced in the field." I announced.

I wonder when this mission would be completed. It's taking far too long. I decided that I should at least take Hawkeye back to the plane. So I created a portal beneath Clint and I. I placed my arms underneath him so I could soften the fall when we hit the floor of the plane. I rushed over to the medical kit and hastily opened it. I couldn't patch up a wound this big with these basic medical tools so I decided I would try to stop the blood flow first. I also figured I might as well as put gauze around it too as a safety precaution.

"I got in." Tony informed us. Good. Now I don't have to worry about going back into the field to help. I could focus solely on Barton. "Put lullaby into action." the Cap ordered Natasha. I still don't understand how it works. I guess the big, green guy just has a soft spot for her. The team should be coming in soon. Getting into the main building was supposed to be the hard part. I'm pretty sure Iron Man will make quick work of the rest of the job. All he has to do is get a location on the scepter and take out whoever tries to stop him.

By the time I was finished patching up, the rest of the Avengers were coming back in. Tony had a weird look on his face, like he just saw a ghost or something but I didn't pay much attention to it. I was too preoccupied with the fact that we actually retrieved the scepter. Finally! Thank God! We went through so much trouble looking for that thing. I could finally relax and kick back with a nice cup of steaming hot chocolate. Just thinking about it made me sigh in pure bliss. I absolutely love hot chocolate. It's a childhood memory. I always try to remember the good times with my family before HYDRA came into the picture.

"What are you smiling about? Thinking of hot chocolate again? You know it's unhealthy to drink the amount of hot chocolate that you do." the man out of time remarked with a smile. I just grinned back. Everyone on the team knew of my weird love for the hot drink.

I could hear Tony talking to Jarvis giving him instructions about getting the lab prepared for Barton. I still felt bad about that. I probably could've stopped it if I was paying more attention. Natasha and Bruce were talking in a corner among themselves. Tony walked over to where Thor and Captain America were talking after giving the control over flying to his 'co-pilot' Jarvis. "Feels good, doesn't it? We've been after this thing since SHIELD collapsed." the billionaire remarked. "Banner and I will give it the once-over before it gets taken to Asgard. Is that cool with you? Just until the farewell party. You're staying for that right?" he continued."Of course, that should be fine. I have also decided to stay for the party." Thor answered.

I listened quietly to the whole conversation. I wonder what HYDRA did with the scepter all this time. I hope they didn't do anything too drastic. Maybe that's how that guy got his powers to run super fast. HYDRA probably tried to harness the power of the scepter just like how Fury tried to with the tesseract. That never ended well.

Whatever they did, it was probably bad.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"Lab's all set up boss."

I turned around to see Maria Hill walking towards Captain America, Iron Man and me. We were the only ones left in the plane after Barton was rushed out to get treated. "Oh actually he's the boss. I just pay for everything and design everything, make everyone look cooler." Tony remarked while pointing at Steve.

"Who were the enhanced?" I asked while absentmindedly twirling my guns in each hand. "Pietro and Wanda Maximoff. Twins. Orphaned at ten when a shell collapsed their building. They volunteered for Strucker's experiments" Agent Hill answered my question while showing a few pictures to us. My breath hitched as the information sunk in. They volunteered?

I understand the pain that comes with losing your parents. Believe me, I would know. But I can't imagine voluntarily going through those horrible experiments that they performed on me. Even though it might not be the same 'techniques' that they used on us, since I had my powers beforehand unlike the twins, it still felt like hell. I don't know exactly why they volunteered, but they still have a chance to get out of it. I am definitely going to try to help them. HYDRA is evil.

I found myself walking towards the labs where Barton was lying down on a table. There was some weird machine thing hovering over him. I entered in time to hear Dr. Helen Cho explain how the tissues reconstruct with the help of the machine to Natasha and Tony. I'm not going to lie, I didn't understand a single word she said. It sounded like gibberish to me.

"You're coming to the party right?"

Huh? was my intelligent answer. I shook my head getting rid of the daze I was in. I could see Stark smirking at me with an eyebrow raised. "You know, the farewell party that we have been talking about for the past week. I know you hate wearing dresses and you have a hard time trying to be a girl but you better come." he teased. Well, that irked me. "I don't have a hard time being a girl! I am a girl! I just hate wearing dresses since I can't jump around in them!" I exclaimed while throwing my hands up into the air.

He just ignored me and asked the same question to Dr. Cho. I could feel my eyebrow quirk in irritation. "Unlike some people, I have work to do." she answered. Now that was just insulting. "Is….. Thor going to be there?" she asked just as we were leaving. I smirked. What happened to her work now?

I entered the party while it was in full swing. The room was illuminated in a warm glow and I could see people talk in various groups around the room. There was a few people at the sofa, at the bar and some were playing pool. The music was playing in the background. I didn't recognize the song. I could see Tony and Thor talking with Maria and the War Machine. I walked towards them, picking up a glass of champagne along the way. I'll save the heavy stuff for later. I can't get myself drunk when the party just started. That won't end well.

As I neared the group, I could hear Tony and Thor arguing about who's girlfriend is better with more accomplishments. I could feel the tension in the air. I shared a look with Maria. "Testosterone." both of us coughed while walking away from the quarreling men. They just glared at us. We parted ways after talking for a little while. I was on my third drink now. I made my way towards the Captain. "Hey." I greeted. He turned around to look at me. "Hey Drea. You look beautiful." he complimented. Steve looked after me like a father ever since he found me in that hellhole. I will never be able to repay him nor the Avengers for giving me a home again.

"Thanks." I smiled at him.

I was wearing a white and navy blue dress that stops a little above my knees. The dress was white up to my waist, then the navy blue starts. I also wore a thin black belt separating the white and the blue. The sleeves were up to my elbows and it was made out of white lace. The white made a nice contrast with my purple hair. My hair was in a braided updo. I guess that hour of dressing up actually paid off.

I love parties. A few hours later, everyone left and only the Avengers and the War Machine were still there. We were all talking and laughing. "Whoever is worthy shall lift it. Whatever man, its a trick." Clint mocked. "Well then, why don't you try it?" the Asgardian challenged. The next half hour consisted of all the men in the room trying to pick the hammer up. They even tried working together and it still didn't budge. I was pretty drunk already so I was laughing and making fun of all of them. "Why don't you try Adrianna, since you think it's so easy?" Tony asked me.

"Pssht, it's a trick! I'm not going to fall for that and look like an idiot!" I exclaimed widely grinning. "How about this; you are all not worthy." Thor proclaimed, easily lifting the hammer up and trowing it in the air, expertly catching it. All of us laughed. Just then a high pitched sound started emitting from all around effectively cutting off our laughter. I covered my ears in pain. I looked up just as the noise stopped. I could still feel my ears ringing when a robotic voice spoke up.

"How could any of you be worthy?"


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"You're all killers."

A half destroyed version of Tony's suit of armor was staggering around in front of us. The face was mostly melted off and I could see the insides of the metal suit. The wires inside were tangled around each other like vines in a forest and many were hanging limply outside of the body. The iron man insignia was completely gone. No trace of it remained. It was a gruesome sight since I'm used to the armor giving off friendly vibes instead of the hostile signals I'm receiving now.

"I killed the other guy. He was a good guy." the intruder croaked out. I was pretty freaked out now. I could see Tony from my peripheral vision fiddling with his tech trying to get a hold of Jarvis. From his annoyed expression, I could tell that he was failing. "You killed someone?" Steve asked expressionlessly. We all waited for the answer. Each one of us were preparing for attack. I could tell from the way Thor tightened his grip on his hammer and how Maria discreetly pulled her gun out. Everyone else was tense and getting ready for any sign of aggression so they could respond quickly. I slightly bent my knees and flexed my fingers so I could create a portal at a moment's notice. It would've been much easier if I wasn't wearing a fricking dress with heels.

"Down in the real world, we're faced with ugly choices." it finally responded. Well that didn't clear anything up. It actually just confused me even more. "Who sent you?" questioned Thor while staring right at the robot. The only response we got was a recording of Tony's voice being played. "I see a suit of armor around the world." it played. I quickly glanced at Tony. "Ultron in the flesh. Or no, not really. At least not yet." the intruder continued.

"I'm on a mission; a piece of our time."

Just as he finished speaking, two other Iron Man suits burst through the walls on either side of Ultron and headed quickly towards us. It was chaos. There was glass pieces flying from all around. I covered my face, feeling tiny cuts appear all along my forearms. The first suit headed towards Thor. He swiftly lifted his hammer and smashed the armor backwards, sending it barreling straight through the wall it came from. I jumped as the second suit came flying towards my legs using its propellors. I quickly created a portal midair, sending the robot to Steve who leaped onto the back of the suit punching it repeatedly.

The War machine was sent flying out the window onto the balcony by one of them. He didn't come back so I assumed he was knocked out. Atleast he would be safe there. The Black Widow was firing away at one of the robots from her spot behind the bar. Maria was doing the same, lying on the floor next to the sofa we were previously sitting on. "Stark!" I yelled creating a portal for Tony to go through. It landed him perfectly on one of the suits of armor. He started to reprogram and dismantle the robot while clinging onto the back of it. Damn, he works fast. The top half and the bottom half were separated into two by the time he was done. One down, one to go.

The other one was being taken care of by the Cap' and Thor. Hawkeye suddenly threw Captain America's shield at him. He caught it easily and threw it at the second suit of armor all in one move. It burst into various pieces. Now that was some good teamwork. I guess you get that from a year of fighting various battles together. The first suit started crawling towards Dr. Helen, who was cowering in fear in a corner. She didn't have anything to defend herself with. The attacker only consisted of the top half. Just as it was about to grab her, Thor leaped up and smashed his hammer onto it. She probably likes him even more after that. It was down for good after that. Only Ultron remained now.

"That was dramatic. I'm sorry, I know you mean well. You just don't think it through." Ultron remarked. "You want to protect the world, yet you don't want it to change. How can humanity be saved if it is not allowed to evolve? The path to peace, is the Avengers' extinction." he continued tilting his head. Just as Ultron finished his sentence, Thor threw his hammer at him, effectively destroying him. "Now, I'm free." Ultron croaked out before the light in his eyes went out… literally. He had lightbulbs for eyes. Or whatever Tony makes his suits out of.

The whole place was completely trashed.

There were glass pieces everywhere. The sofas we were previously sitting on were tossed across the room. They were laying upside down near the bar, which was where Banner is still hiding so he wouldn't accidentally go hulk mode. Random pieces of Tony's suits were lying around. There was also a huge gaping hole in the wall next to the elevator. All of this was pretty disturbing by itself. But the thing that scared me most was the recording of Tony's voice that Ultron played.

Did he do this? Did he create Ultron? Does this mean war?


	6. Chapter 5

**Hey everyone. This is just a brief note. I just wanted to say sorry if I offended anyone because of the similarities between Blink from X-Men and Adrianna. I admit I got inspired by Blink in terms of her powers but I tried to make Adrianna her own person with her own personality. She has a whole different back story that you will eventually read about. Adrianna also has limitations to her powers. I did not copy Blink. Blink and Adrianna are two different people with similar powers. I got a few hate comments about that so I just wanted to apologize in case I offended anyone. I didn't mean to.**

 **On the brighter side, I'm really happy that so many people like my story! I read each and every review. It just makes my day to find out that so many people like my writing. I was hesitant to post it at first. I always look forward to reading your opinions on my story so please keep reviewing! It helps me make the story better in case I do something poorly. Anyway, you guys are probably bored of my rambling. I tend to do that. So, on with the story!**

 **Chapter 5**

"All our work is gone."

All of us were sitting in the lab with scowls on our faces. I could feel a storm coming. There was always an eerie silence before everyone erupted all at once. That silence was pure torture though. Everyone was in their own little world thinking about the new threat that just developed; Ultron. "Ultron cleared out. He used the internet as an escape plan." Banner informed us. I think he's the only one that looks calm in this room. Everyone else looked pissed. Steve was leaning on a table grumbling to himself moodily. I think this is the most serious we've all been in a while.

"He's been in everything. He probably knows more about us than we know about each other." I groaned as I heard Natasha listing off the stuff he's been in. This just keeps getting better and better. It's a good thing SHIELD doesn't know much about me. They only have basic information on my background. Ultron still has a lot of leverage over us though. I could see the sour expressions taking form on every single face in the room. Knowing that some creepy, deranged robot has that much information about you can't feel all that good. I could only sigh in relief. I hate it when people know things about me that I don't want them to know.

"He has access to our files, the internet. What if he gets access to something more…. exciting?" the War Machine pondered as he paced the room. My eyes widened at the endless possibilities of all the things Ultron could access. He can cause total destruction. "Nuclear codes." Maria finished with a stern look on her face. "He said he killed somebody." Barton remarked looking up at us. Who else was in the building? And then it dawned on me. "Jarvis." I stated just as Tony put up a hologram of Jarvis' destroyed form. The once pretty orange orb that was Jarvis was destroyed. There were only fragments left.

I was brought out of my shocked state by the sound of heavy steps. Thor was walking towards Tony with a deathly glare on his face. He lifted him up into the air with one hand wrapped around his neck. "Cmon, use your words buddy." Tony choked out. "I have more than enough words to describe you Stark." Thor grunted out. Everyone immediately started asking Thor to stop. We can't have inner conflicts going on when there was a bigger problem on our hands. Thankfully, the Asgardian put Tony back down. "Ultron has the scepter. Now we have to retrieve it again." I groaned just as he finished the sentence. It took so long getting that thing! Now we have to go on another wild goose chase.

"I don't understand. You put together that thing. Why is it trying to kill us?" Dr. Helen spoke up for the first time. That was actually a pretty good question. The billionaire started chuckling quietly. I was flabbergasted. Really? Does this guy have no shame? I was seriously confused and I could feel the beginning of a headache coming. "You think this is funny?" Thor voiced the question everyone had on their minds.

"No. It's probably not, right? Is this really so terrible?"

At this, everyone started yelling at each other. The room was filled with angry shouts mostly directed towards Tony. This was not helping my headache. I decided to head towards the attached bathroom since I know there would be headache pills in there for the long nights spent in the lab by Tony and Banner. I doubt my absence would be noticed with all the rage building up in that room.

Like all things in the Avengers tower, the bathroom was extravagant. Tony really likes showing his wealth off doesn't he? I went directly over to the cupboard and ripped it open. I fumbled around for the headache pills for what seemed like hours. I finally closed my fingers around the right bottle. I popped it open and downed two pills in a single gulp. I already felt much better. Another side effect of my accidentally acquired abilities is the random migraines that come every once in a while. It's a pain in the ass if you ask me.

I've been downing pills ever since I got my powers; excluding the time I was in captivity of course. All those excessive pills I took are probably going to come back and bite me in the ass sooner or later, but until then I will do anything to get rid of these annoying headaches. I decided to take two bottles of pills and stuff them in my jacket for future use. Mine were running out anyway.

"How are you guys planning on beating that?" Tony questioned right as I came out of the bathroom.

"Together." Steve answered.

"We'll lose."

"Then we do that together too."

After that everyone decided to retire for the night. It had been a particularly tiring day but I still couldn't sleep for some reason. I tossed and turned for a good one hour before deciding to go get a cup of hot chocolate. I put on a robe over my pajamas before making my way over to the elevator. I had to go all the way to the shared kitchen since I ran out of hot chocolate packets in my attached kitchen on my floor. Yes, Tony gave everyone their own floors. It's one of the perks of living with a multibillionaire.

After making a cup of hot chocolate for myself, I turned around to go back to my room.

"Couldn't sleep?"

"Eep!" I squeaked out in surprise, jumping about a foot into the air. I ended up spilling most of my hot chocolate onto the floor and the rest on myself. I groaned loudly cursing at my clumsiness. Then I remembered that the douchebag that scared me was the one to cause this. I whipped my head up and glared at the culprit. I was surprised when I saw Steve standing there with an apologetic look on his face. "Sorry." he apologized while rubbing the back of his head.

I sighed as I turned around to make myself another cup. I couldn't really blame him for that. "What are you doing up so late?" I asked as I turned back around to face him. "I should be asking you that." he countered as he stepped towards the fridge, taking out a carton of milk and placing it on the countertop. I snatched it up and proceeded with making my hot chocolate. "I guess I'm just worried about what Ultron said." I answered after a long period of silence. He just looked at me. "Don't be. We'll defeat him no matter what." he replied. I just gave him a smile that I'm pretty sure looked more like a grimace. I took my hot chocolate and headed back towards the elevator after cleaning up the mess on the floor.

"I believe you." I reassured Steve right before the elevator door closed. That was a blatant lie on my part. For some reason, I had a really bad feeling about this whole Ultron thing. I just couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was about to happen.


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"Ultron killed Strucker."

"This is a smokescreen. Why send a message when you've just given a speech?" Natasha pointed out while looking at a picture of the corpse of Strucker. I leaned over from my current spot on top of the table to get a better look at it. It was a picture of Strucker in his jail cell. Next to him, in what I assumed was his own blood, was written 'Peace'. It was kind of disturbing to look at so I immediately turned the other way. "Strucker knew something that Ultron wanted to miss." Steve stated with his arms crossed and a serious look on his face. This guy was all business. "That means… yep. Everything on Strucker has been erased." Natasha informed us while looking over at the computer screen beside me.

"Not everything."

We all let out collective groans as we heard that. I knew what that meant. It means we have to manually sift through boxes and boxes of files on Strucker. Technology really did make me a lazy person. I couldn't stand to do any work. Everyone started to take out large boxes filled with papers to the brim. "Strucker sure did know a lot of people." I drawled out while looking through a thick file of paper. "Well these people are all horrible." Banner answered, pushing up his glasses on his nose. "Wait, I know that guy." Tony exclaimed. He snatched the piece of paper that I was scanning through out of my hands and read over it. "From back in the day. He operates off the African coast, black market arms." Tony continued. All of us gave him a pointed look. "I never sold anything to him" Tony defended himself with both hands in the air.

"What's this?" Thor enquired while pointing at the picture in the file.

"A tattoo."

"No, this is a tattoo. _This_ is a brand."

I turned towards the computer next to me and ran the picture of the brand for a match in SHIELD's database. It showed the results after a moment. "Um it's an African dialect meaning thief." I announced. "What dialect?" Steve asked. "Wakanda." I said after many failed attempts at pronouncing it. You can't blame me for not being fluent in an African language. I could barely speak in Spanish from when I learned it in school. Imagine speaking an African language that you've never heard before.

Both Stark and the Cap' gave each other a worried glance. "If this guy got out of Wakanda with some of their trade goods…" the billionaire trailed off. "I thought your father got rid of it all?" Steve questioned. I was completely and utterly confused. Wakanda sounds more like a cool band name than some dangerous place that has even Steve and Tony worried. "I don't follow. What comes out of Wakanda?" Banner voiced what the rest of us were wondering.

"The strongest metal on earth."

Well that certainly got us worried. We all dispersed and went back to our rooms to get our things. I grabbed my headache pills from the cabinet and stuffed them into my pocket. I was definitely going to be carrying those if I had to go anywhere near Wanda Maximoff. Agent Hill warned us about the abilities of the enhanced. I was definitely going to be careful around her. I don't want to face my biggest fears. There are some things I'd rather not relive.

An hour later I found myself on the plane all geared up and heading toward this mystery dude who has some seriously valuable metal in his hands. To say I was wary would be an understatement. I got up and stretched when the plane landed. I might as well be ready in case something goes wrong. All of us, The Avengers, walked into the creepy, huge building looming before us on high alert. We made our way through several doors and corridors to finally see Ultron and the Maximoff twins standing over a man with one arm cut off. That is just sick. We silently spread out and got into position to attack if necessary.

"Stark is a sickness!" Ultron yelled at the man on the ground.

"Aw, junior. You're going to break your old man's heart." Tony mocked. Ultron turned around to face him with an unamused expression. Well, as much of an expression as a robot can have. "You two can still walk away from this." Captain America advised the twins while looking at them. My heart swelled with hope. I really didn't want to fight them. I had a feeling that those two were just victims of this whole ordeal. "Oh, we will." Wanda, the female twin, replied with an expression of mock sorrow. That made my heart deflate like a balloon. I really wanted to help them. But I can't. Because it's a matter of saving the world now. Thousands of lives are at stake. They chose this path for themselves.

"If you believe in peace, then let us keep it." Thor stated in a calm manner. "I think you're confusing peace with quiet." Ultron countered almost immediately in a condescending tone. I was crouching low behind a box a few meters away from the twins, waiting for any signs of movement. I could basically feel the waves of hostility radiating off of Ultron near them. For someone who talks about peace, he sure is violent. "So what's the vibranium for?" Tony asked, choosing to completely ignore the intense staredown going on between Thor and Ultron.

"I'm glad you asked. Let me take this time to explain my evil plan to you."

And that was when he attacked.


	8. Chapter 7

**Hey guys! I'm really really sorry about the late updates. I've been busy with keeping up my grades and trying to have a social life at the same time. Very hard thing to do. I hope you guys like my writing so far! I'll try to be more regular with the updates. Anyway, please keep leaving reviews and suggestions for me so I can maybe improve my writing. They can be positive or negative. It depends on your opinion of the story so far. I'll try not to get offended :P.**

 **Chapter 7**

And that was when he attacked.

Ultron shot a laser from his palm at Tony, causing him to go flying into the wall behind him in a blur of red and gold. Tony retaliated almost immediately by flying into Ultron and lifting him into the air. That was when a few Ultron 'minions' came crashing in, shooting more lasers and flying around. A bunch of armed men came rushing in and started firing at everyone too to add to the chaos. I'm guessing that's branded dude's men. We really didn't need any more problems.

"Adrianna!" I whipped my head in the direction of the call. Natasha was cornered by a few men. I quickly whipped out a hand in the general direction of Natasha and created a portal, landing her behind the bewildered men. They looked around confusedly at each other before Natasha started taking them out with her gun. Out of the corner of my eyes I saw more men pouring in to the room. I smirked while slowly drawing out the two halves of my polearm. It looks it's time to have a little fun. I sprinted towards them connecting my polearm into one long pole. As they turned around, their eyes widened upon seeing me closing in on them. I hit one of them over the head and swiftly opened a portal to go through just as they were taking out their guns.

I appeared not seconds later behind them. As the man in the back turned around to face me, I jabbed him in the stomach with my polearm effectively knocking the wind out of him. He bent over in pain clutching his stomach, giving me the opportunity to knee him in the face. He fell down with a loud groan escaping his parted and bloody lips. I leaped over him and knocked the gun out of the next guy's hand by delivering a sharp blow to his wrist. He made the mistake of holding onto his bruised wrist, giving me time to detach my polearm into two pieces and hit him on the head once with each half. He was out cold. 3 down and lots more to go. Great. Just great.

All the commotion I caused caught the attention of a few men and nearby Ultron 'minions'. "Crap." I muttered under my breath. I quickly created a portal leading to the other side of the large room just as they pointed their guns at me and started firing. I let out a sigh of relief as I landed on both feet on the ground. Click! I froze as I heard the sound of a gun being cocked behind me. Just as I closed my eyes in anticipation, I felt myself being lifted and carried at an extremely high speed. In fact, it was so fast I'm pretty sure I would've gotten whiplash if not for the hand holding my head in place. As soon as I was placed down, I opened my eyes and got up about to thank Tony for saving me.

To say I was surprised would be an understatement.

I found myself looking into the clear blue eyes of Pietro freaking Maximoff. "Try to be more careful next time. Wouldn't want your pretty little face to be hurt now, would we?" he said in that charming accent of his with a smirk on his face. I was speechless. I couldn't form a single coherent sentence to say, much less a witty comeback. You can't really blame me for my lack of words though. One moment I was staring death in the face and in the next, I'm standing in front of a silver-haired man who was currently staring down at me with an undecipherable expression on his handsome face. His eyes softened for a fraction of a second before he vanished in a flurry of wind.

I stood there for a few more seconds before I snapped back to reality. I whirled around looking for the rest of the Avengers. I spotted the Cap' a few feet away just as he went barreling backwards after a silver blur rushed past him. I winced as I saw Steve get up holding his bleeding nose. He immediately resumed fighting again. Whipping out my guns, I fired a few shots at one of the Ultron 'minions' that Steve was fighting. It spotted me and started to fly right at me. I sidestepped just as it was about to collide with me and jumped onto its back. I wrapped my legs around its head and used my polearm to rip off the head of the robot. It crashed into the ground while I rolled off of it. It wasn't a very graceful landing but I didn't get hurt and that was all I needed.

I turned around in time to see Pietro go flying through the air as he held onto Thor's hammer. He landed in a heap in a bunch of boxes. I looked away since I can't do anything to help him. Believe me, I wanted to. Thankfully, I was distracted by more men circling around me with guns waving in the air. "Hello boys." I greeted just as I created a portal below my feet, taking me a good 5 feet away. I sprinted towards one of them and hit him on the back of his head. I created another portal immediately and jumped through shooting at one of the men on the other side. I continuously created portals and kept on jumping through them while taking out one person each time. I ducked, kicked, hit, shot, threw knives at and punched each person. Three minutes later I found myself standing in the midst of a bunch of unconscious armed men. I deserved an award for that totally awesome and badass display of skills if you asked me.

"Thor. Status." Steve asked through the intercom.

"The girl tried to warp my mind. Fortunately, I am mighty." Thor answered.

Just as I destroyed the last Ultron 'minion', Wanda Maximoff appeared in front of me. The last thing I saw before my vision went dark was a sad look on Pietro's face as I fell to the ground.


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

"Wake up you stupid girl! It's time for another session."

"Huh?" was my intelligent reply. I slowly opened my eyes, blinking rapidly trying to get them to adjust to the bright lights that were currently blinding me. The last thing I remembered before blacking out was that I had a strong sense of uneasiness coursing through me. As I looked up from my position on the floor, I saw the blurred outline of two huge men standing in front of me. I blinked a couple of times again. As soon as my vision finally cleared and I got a look at the men who rudely woke me up, I started to tremble in horror. No! This can't be happening! I couldn't be back here! This was the one place that I hoped I would never have to revisit again: the HYDRA base in Sokovia.

Both men grabbed hold of one of my arms each and pulled me to my feet roughly. I started to violently struggle against their vice-like grip on my upper arms just like the various times I have before during my captivity. As expected, my struggles yielded no positive results yet again. It was kind of like a mouse trying to push two elephants. It was pathetic. But in true Adrianna fashion, I continued thrashing around and screaming bloody murder. I could tell I was starting to piss off one of the guards by the annoyed expression he wore on his face. The other man's face gave away no emotion. His irritation just gave me a reason to continue yelling my ass off. I know I'm just digging my own grave but it gave me a weird sense of satisfaction knowing that I'm having an adverse effect on his mood. I refuse to be the only one with a strong distaste for this arrangement.

I think I finally pushed it too far by trying to bite their hands because the next thing I know, I feel a sharp pain at the back of my head. "You annoying little pest." were the last words I heard before I once again fell unconscious.

The next time I woke up, I found myself lying on top of a cold metal table. I recognized the room immediately. I started violently thrashing around. I pulled and tugged at the straps that were my holding my hands down while my eyes pricked with tears. This was the room where the worst of the experimentation occurred. I used to dread the days I had to come here. Click! My head snapped in the direction that the sound came from. Dr. Henderson. I was enveloped by an overwhelming sense of fear. All thoughts of escape vanished when I saw this cruel man's face. _He_ was my tormentor. _He_ was in charge of all the inhuman experiments I was put through. _He_ is the reason I have nightmares.

Dr. Henderson is a tall, dark-skinned man with a receding hairline. He has thin lips that are almost always curved into a disturbing smirk. His eyes are hidden behind a pair of glasses and he has no facial hair at all. I haven't seen him in any other clothes apart from a pristine white lab coat that never seems to have a single stain on it. He is well-built and extremely intimidating. He knows exactly where to push so he can get a reaction out of you and he is certainly very intelligent. In all my years that I had spent as a HYDRA lab rat, I never got a single piece of information from him that was even remotely useful. I eventually gave up.

"Ah Adrianna. We meet again. How have you been?" Dr. Henderson asked with a sinister smile on his face. As much as I want to say that I spit in his face or that I made a witty remark or that I had some other courageous response, I can't. That would be a lie. Instead, I lay there paralyzed in fear unable to form a coherent sentence in my head. This just made Dr. Henderson grin. "I have something special planned for you today. It involves testing your tolerance. I want to explore the full extent of your abilities." he announced with a sadistic expression on his face. He picked up a syringe filled with a clear substance that was on the table next to my head. "What is that? What are you going to do?" I asked in a shaky voice.

"You're about to find out."

As soon as he injected the serum into my body, I was overcome by an excruciating pain. It felt like a thousand needles under your skin piercing deeper every time you make the slightest movement. It felt like my organs were being incinerated by a raging inferno inside of my body. It felt like someone decided to break every single bone in my body one-by-one. It was the single most unbearable pain I've ever experienced. I was writhing in pure agony with my back arched against the cold, unforgiving table and lips parted in a silent scream. That's when I heard the voice.

"You deserve this."

For a second I couldn't feel any of the pain from before. I was too focused on the owner of that voice to feel the now dull throb. "Mom?" I croaked out in a raspy voice. "It's your fault. It's your fault I'm dead. You deserve this." she stated in a monotone voice. My world came to a stop as I heard those words. I was hit by an all new kind of agony. This was worse. I've been blaming myself for my family's death for years but those words coming from my mother just made it real. I killed my family. I am the reason they are dead. And boy did it hurt. Fresh tears slid down my face along the tracks that were already present.

"No, please. I'm sorry!" I whispered.

"You killed us." This time my father's and younger brother's voice joined in. "You killed us." They started chanting over and over.

"You killed us."

"You killed us."

"Please, stop!" I pleaded as the physical pain from before came back along with the emotional pain. "Please!" I begged repeatedly.

"Please!"

And finally, my vision went dark for the third time. But this time it was welcome and I gladly succumbed to the darkness.


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

"The news is loving you guys. Nobody else is…."

"There's been no official call for Banner's arrest but it's in the air." Maria reported through the intercom. We were sitting in one of SHIELD's many high-tech planes on our way back to the Stark tower. "For now just stay in stealth mode and stay away from here. Good luck." Maria said before cutting the connection. Looks like we are going to have to change course. Each of us were sitting in a different corner thinking about what happened today. I think Tony and Barton were the only ones that weren't a victim of Wanda's manipulation. You could see from the faces of Banner, Thor, Steve and Natasha that they were thrown off by today's experience. It was frightening and I wouldn't wish that upon anyone.

I took out my bottle of headache pills and swallowed two at once. The memories that resurfaced today were memories that I would have preferred forgotten. I kept them buried for a reason. I felt tears prick at my eyes as I remembered the terrified faces of my family right before they were killed in front of me. That day, 4 years ago, was the worst day of my life. It was the day HYDRA took over my life and completely changed it. My parents and brother were taken away from me in the blink of an eye. I miss them. It's my fault that they were killed. I was snapped out of my depressing thoughts by Tony's voice.

"You want to switch out?" Tony asked.

"No, I'm good. It' only 2 hours more." Clint replied.

"From where?"

"A safe house."

This certainly got my attention. I wondered where we would be going. Safe houses are usually located in the middle of nowhere so I was pretty excited at the fact that there would some peace and quiet over there. I needed time to focus and get some training done. My fighting skills weren't as good as I wanted them to be today. I let my guard down and that almost got me killed. I can't let that happen again. I won't always be fortunate enough to have a savior. It was pretty embarrassing to be held at gunpoint like that. I can't let my enemies think I'm weak. I decided to spend my time at the safe house either practicing or reconstructing my mental barriers.

By the time we had reached the safe house, the sun was just coming out and everything was bathed in a warm yellow glow. It was breathtaking. There were wheat fields all around us and there was a pretty pastel blue house in the middle of it all. I couldn't see any signs of civilization nearby. Clint lead the group onto the porch of the safe house while supporting Natasha. He made a beeline towards the kitchen right after pushing the front door open. Huh. You would think a safe house would be locked and a little bit more secure. "Honey, I'm home!" Barton announced. To my surprise, a good-looking brown haired woman showed up in front of us. She was pregnant. She went straight towards Barton and kissed him after hugging him.

"She must be an agent of some kind." Tony immediately concluded after seeing the shocking scene that had just unfolded in front of us. "Ladies and gentlemen, this is Laura." Clint told us after deciding to completely ignore Tony's statement. She looked a little intimidated but said hi to us nonetheless. "Daddy!" two kids -the older was a boy and the younger was a girl- screamed while running towards Barton. He picked them up and twirled them around, playfully conversing with them. At this point I'm pretty sure my mouth was hanging open in disbelief. "These are smaller agents." Tony reasoned again. At least I wasn't the only one who was kept from this little piece of information.

"Did you bring auntie Nat?" the little girl enquired.

"Why don't you hug her and find out?" Natasha said with a playful grin on her face.

Did the Black Widow just smile and laugh with a kid? I think I might be hallucinating. I guess it was a nice change though. "Sorry for barging in like this." Steve apologized being as polite as always. "Yea. We were too busy not knowing you guys existed." Tony continued being as rude as always. I swear those two are polar opposites. Barton launched into an explanation about how SHIELD set this up for him just as I zoned out. I was too preoccupied by the surroundings.

It was a very cozy and warm looking house. There was a sofa to the right of where I was standing with a few pillows littered across it in random places. In front of me there was a decent sized kitchen that was almost spotless; that's pretty impressive for a single pregnant woman with two kids. The windows were open, causing the room to be lit up in a warm glow. It made the house look welcoming. There were stairs leading to what I assumed was the second floor to my left. There were also toys scattered across the floor of the living room which was where we were standing. Crunch! I glanced down at the source of the subtle but still audible sound. Looks like the mighty Thor stepped on legos. It was almost comical. I wonder what his reaction would've been if he hadn't had shoes on. I doubt that even Asgardians would have been able to bear the intense pain of stepping on legos. Believe me, it hurts.

Ding! At the sound of the toaster, Thor looked up and seemed to have remembered something because next thing I know he was walking out the front door. I followed him out along with the Cap' next to me. "I saw something in that dream and I need answers. I won't them find here." Thor explained. At the end of the sentence, he spun his hammer and flew upwards into the sky. Steve and I just stood there basking in the sun and staring up at the sky for a few seconds. "He sure knows how to make an exit." I commented. Steve just smiled at me and ruffled my hair before walking off into the fields.

I scowled at his back while I tried flattening my hair. I eventually just gave up and took my purple hair out of its ponytail. I took a small step towards the stairs leading up to the front door of the house and sat down there trying to make myself comfortable. As I looked out at the fields, I was brought back to my previous thoughts about getting stronger. I was no longer the damsel in distress I used to be and I'm going to prove it. I don't want to bring the team down because of my incompetence. I resolved to make the most of this little break we had and train like there's no tomorrow. I _will_ get better at fighting.

* * *

 **Please review if you like the story so far!  
;)**


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

"Someone give me some water. I'm dying!"

"Being a little dramatic aren't we?" Clint asked in response to my plea. I had just walked into the kitchen drenched in sweat after chopping wood with Tony and Steve. Before that I ran a few miles to increase my stamina and practiced shooting at random objects that Laura promised she didn't need. Of course I did this all outside where the sun was blazing down on me. My skin is without a doubt twice as dark as it used to be. I probably looked like a mess with my hair literally stuck to my forehead and the back of my neck. I felt disgusting and proud of myself at the same time. It's a weird feeling.

I crawled over to Clint and grabbed the glass of water that he held out for me. I drank all of it in two big gulps and slammed the glass down with a satisfied sigh. Laura, who was also in the kitchen, laughed with one hand on her swollen belly and the other around her husband. They made an adorable couple. My inner fangirl was coming out seeing these two together. My internal squealing was brought to an abrupt halt when her laughter slowly morphed into a dejected expression instead. "You're too young to have responsibilities as big as saving the world. You have a whole life before you that you are risking everyday. It breaks my heart to have to see someone so young dragged into these situations." Laura stated.

I guess I never really thought of it like that. I had always taken being a part of the Avengers as a something that I was meant to do. I still think that. "Well I have these abilities that I could use to do so much good. Why waste them? I know first hand the kind of things that HYDRA does to people. I wouldn't want anyone to go through that. I made it my goal to eradicate HYDRA. I had a choice. I take these risks voluntarily. I wasn't dragged into being a part of the team. I know this is all pretty cliche and sappy but I take it seriously. I refuse to sit around doing nothing when I can make a difference. Thank you for caring though." I answered. Laura just gave me a sad smile.

The conversation was taking a morbid turn so I decided to change it altogether. "Where is the bathroom? I really need to take a shower." I asked. I was still wearing the clothes I had on when I was fighting and I was also sweating buckets because of my workout. The smell coming off of me could probably kill someone if they got close enough. "It's upstairs. Just take a left once you get upstairs and it will be in a room there." Clint replied. I quickly walked out of there despite my aching limbs. When I reached the top of the staircase the sight that greeted me was certainly surprising. I almost gasped aloud. I quickly covered my mouth before I could make a sound. Nat and Banner were standing in the bedroom to the right and were holding each other. Nat had both her hands on the cheeks of Banner and was whispering something to him.

I immediately looked away and walked towards the bedroom on the left without making a sound. I didn't want to ruin their moment. I closed the door behind me and took a look around the room. It was neat and had no family pictures hanging up so I'm guessing that it was the guest bedroom. The walls were covered in floral wallpaper and the bedsheets were beige in color. The floor was wooden and the bathroom door was on the right. I walked in there and sat there trying to figure out how to work the shower for some time. I eventually got it to just the right temperature and got in. I let out a content sigh. It felt awesome especially after all the physical work I did.

After washing off I got out and dried myself. Laura lent me some of her clothes since I didn't bring any. I had on shorts and a tank top with a flannel shirt tied around my waist. My hair was wet so I just decided to leave it down and let it air dry. It was nothing fancy but it was really comfortable. Afterward I went back outside and just sat there listening to music and watching Steve continue tearing apart the wood pieces. Tony disappeared by the time I got there. Steve looked pretty pissed so I decided to sit a good few feet away. I did not want to be subjected to the same fate as those destroyed wood pieces. Eventually Cooper, Hawkeye's son, joined me and we sat there listening to music together. "Can you create a portal for me? I really want to see how it feels to go through it!" Cooper exclaimed after some time.

"Sure."

I created a portal and watched Cooper jump through it. He appeared right next to me again. "That was so cool!" he shouted. I laughed at his enthusiasm. I spent the rest of the evening playing around with Cooper. Lila, Barton's daughter, eventually joined us too. I have to admit, it was pretty fun.

Later on in the evening all of us were hanging around near the dining table. Director Fury was here! _The_ Director Fury! I thought he was dead. This was actually my first time meeting him and it kind of scared me. He was a very intimidating person. "Ultron himself says that the Avengers are the only thing standing between him and his mission. Now whether he admits it or not, we know that his mission is global destruction. All this will be laid in a grave." Fury announced while gesturing at the entire room. That just made this situation seem way scarier. The world is basically depending on us now to save them. "So stand. Outwit the platinum bastard." he continued.

"Steve doesn't like that kind of talk." Natasha joked with a mocking smile on her face.

Steve just gave her a look. "So what does he want? He stole a ton of vibranium." Director Fury asked.

"To become better. Better than us. He keeps building bodies." Steve answered.

"Ultron's going to evolve." Banner stated while looking at a drawing that Lila made. It was a picture of a butterfly. It was on the table next to Natasha. As soon as he said that I understood what he was trying to convey. It hit me like a ton of bricks. My eyes widened at the realization. "How?" Director Fury questioned.

"Has anyone been in contact with Cho?" I asked.

* * *

 **Please review if you like it!  
Also I will try to update every Monday from now on.  
;)**


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

"There. It's a truck from the lab. It's right above you Cap."

We located Ultron! It' time for some action now. Apparently we can't just blow up Ultron's new body. That sucked because I had seriously been looking forward to doing that. We have to take the cradle to Stark first. Ultron was trying to create a new body for himself by using the cradle's tissue creating abilities and the powerful gem inside the scepter. I have to admit, the dude was smart even though he has no physical brain. "I can take out the driver." Hawkeye stated.

"Negative. That truck crashes and the gem could level the city." Steve told us. I think the city looks fine the way it is so we are going to have to come up with another plan. We were sitting in the quinjet with Clint as the pilot. Natasha was in the back while I was watching the truck containing the cradle through a window. Steve jumped on top of the truck and rolled over to hang on to the back of the truck where the doors were. A huge blast coming from inside the truck caused the door that Steve was holding onto to fly open. A second blast resulted in Steve flying through the air and landing on the door which was scraping against the road. It was barely attached to the truck.

"Well he's definitely unhappy. I'm going to try to keep him that way." Steve announced through the intercom. You can trust Captain America to always state the obvious. This was not looking good at all. He's going to get himself killed if he tries to take down Ultron by himself! "Shit shit shit." I muttered under my breath as I watched Steve holding on for dear life. Ultron fired another beam at the Cap' causing him to go flying backwards and land on a car. "I can't watch this anymore. Let me go help him." I said to Hawkeye. He looked at me for a second gauging whether I was ready for this or not. After a moment he nodded.

He unlocked the hatch door by pressing a few buttons on the control panel. Natasha stood to my right, also getting ready to join the battle. We nodded at each other. "Ok we have a window. 1, 2…..3. Go!" Barton shouted. Both of us revved our bikes and rode out of the quinjet. We landed with a thud on the road and continued towards where Steve and Ultron were fighting on the truck. The wind was blowing my hair back and the feeling was absolutely exhilarating. I weaved through numerous cars on the highway and prepared myself to fight. "I'm always picking up after you boys." Natasha remarked while she grabbed Steve's shield off of the ground.

"Hard right….. now!" Hawkeye commanded. Both of us took a sharp right cutting off three cars in the process. People screamed as we drove through a narrow road at full speed. "Move people!" I yelled. I felt kind of bad for almost running over them. They looked terrified. I was right behind Natasha as we finally saw the truck where the cradle was situated. She went around the truck and threw the shield to Steve. He caught it in one fluid movement and slammed it against Ultron. He stumbled a few feet back towards the front of the truck. He cursed at us and shot a laser at the road in front of Natasha effectively cutting her off.

I continued driving behind the truck. There were two of his minions in there guarding the cradle. As soon as they saw me they started aiming lasers at me. I swerved back and forth avoiding them. One nearly burned the top of my head. "Oh no you don't!" I yelled as I took out a gun and started firing at them. Exactly at that moment Barton started firing at Ultron using the quinjet. This caused Ultron to pick up Steve and they went crashing into a train. The two Ultron minions that were previously trying to kill me went flying after Clint. I was kind of offended that they thought Clint was a better opponent than me.

"Adrianna help Steve! I'll get the cradle!" Natasha told me through the intercom. I smirked at the thought of having the chance to beat up Ultron. I created a portal in front of me and ended up inside the train a second later with the bike. "Oops" I commented with a shrug. I quickly got off and assessed the situation. Steve threw his shield at Ultron who went flying towards the back of the train. He immediately retaliated by shooting a laser at Steve. "Drea! Portal now!" Steve shouted. I made another portal in front of Steve and he jumped through it leading him right in front of Ultron. They started fighting close range. Steve went flying backwards after a few minutes.

That was when I stepped in and started shooting at him. I jumped forwards and took out my polearm. He started throwing punches at me while I defended myself with my polearm and got in a few hits. Ultron then shot lasers at me continuously. I ducked and took cover behind one of the seats in the train. The guy sitting there looked like he was going to die from a heart attack. His eyes were wide open in fear and his mouth was parted in the shape of an O. "Cap' distract him! I got a clear passage to the truck." Natasha commanded. Steve voiced my thoughts by exclaiming "What do you think I've been doing?" in an incredulous tone. Right as Ultron was about to fire another laser at Steve, a blue and silver blur passed by knocking him down.

I came out of my little hiding spot to take a look at what exactly happened. I turned just in time to see the seats deform to block Ultron from coming near us. I looked back and saw Wanda and her brother Pietro standing there. The blur I saw earlier was apparently Pietro. At this point I should probably get used to his grand entrances. "Please. Don't do this." Ultron stated while staring at Wanda. I was too shocked to even pay attention to the rest of their conversation. The twins just helped us! I think that means they finally realized the threat Ultron posed. It looks like we have an ally. This makes fighting just a little easier. We don't have the fear of being shown our worst fears on our conscience anymore. It was a pretty nice feeling if you asked me.

I got jarred out of my happy thoughts by Ultron firing a laser at the back of the train and flying out. "He's headed your way!" I yelled into the intercom.

Just then the train went off the tracks and speeded through a narrow road. "Crap!" I cursed. This was not good at all. There were at least a hundred people in this train. We had to stop it. "Civilians in our path." Steve said as he looked pointedly at Pietro. He was gone in the blink of an eye carrying strangers out of the path of the train. "Can you stop this thing?" Steve asked Wanda. She looked like she was contemplating whether it was within her abilities. Meanwhile I tried to get all the passengers away from the windows of the train so the shrapnel wouldn't hit them.

"Watch out!" I yelled when I saw that we were about to crash through a wall.

Steve ran towards the front of the train where there was a huge gaping hole. He put his shield in front of him just as we crashed through. He got knocked back by a large chunk of cement. I closed my eyes and hid behind a seat along with everyone else as the rest of the shrapnel came through. Wanda stood up and released a large amount of energy directed towards the wheels of the train. The wheels started to screech under the pressure and we slowly came to a stop. I let out a huge breath of relief as I got everyone out of that train.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Pietro breathing hard with his sister worriedly standing over him. Steve walked over there with an unamused expression on his face and said something to them. That's when I decided to stroll up to them so I could figure out what was going on. "Did you get the cradle?" Wanda asked. Pietro was still breathing hard when I got there.

"Stark will take care of it." Steve informed them.

"No he won't." Wanda replied with a worried expression on her face.

"You don't know what you're talking about. Stark's not crazy."

"He will do anything to make things right."

That's when Steve walked a few steps away and started to call for Stark through the intercom over and over again. Stark wasn't responding. I was pretty worried now. My eyebrows furrowed as I tried to figure out what Wanda was implying. "Ultron can't tell the difference between saving the world and destroying it. Where do you think he gets that from?" Wanda questioned. I exchanged a nervous look with Pietro when she said that. Steve had a steely expression on his face as he thought about what Wanda was saying.

"We have to get there. Now." I stated. I did not need this whole situation turning even uglier than it already is.

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	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

"I'm going to say this once."

"How about nunce?" Stark immediately countered. I can't freaking believe this! We just arrived at the Stark tower to find Stark and Banner continuing what we were supposed to stop. It was like we were in a damn time loop! The same thing was happening over and over again. "You don't know what you are doing!" I yelled at them. Banner looked at me with an annoyed expression on his face. "Oh? And you do? How do you know that she's not in your head?" he spat out while pointing at Wanda who was next to me. That kind of hurt. Apparently the hurt showed on my face because I saw Banner's face soften for a fraction of a second before it went back to the enraged expression he had when he saw Wanda.

"I know your angry." Wanda stated as she took one step towards Banner. I lightly pulled her back by her hand since we really did not need the Hulk to come out by accident. "Oh we're way past that. I could choke the life out of you and never change a shade." Banner growled out. That's when the room erupted in shouts and arguments going back and forth. Just as I was about to holler something back at Stark a sudden blast of wind rushed past me almost knocking me over. As soon as I regained my balance I looked up to see Pietro standing behind the Cradle with a huge cord in his hands. I guess that was the cord connecting the computer to the Cradle.

"Go on. You were saying?" Pietro mocked. Just as I was about to start laughing I heard the loud bang of a gunshot go off. I watched in horror as Pietro fell through the glass that he was previously standing on. "Pietro!" Wanda yelled out in despair. That was when we all attacked at the same time. I took out my polearm instead of my guns because these people that we were fighting against were our friends. Steve threw his shield at Tony and leapt forwards through my portal. He landed in front of Tony and tried to punch him but Tony was too fast as he had on his armor already. Stark quickly dodged and retaliated with his own attack. Out of the corner of my eye I saw that Wanda was trapped by Banner in a chokehold. I quickly ran over to help.

Bang! Thor landed in front of me crouching with his hammer on the ground in front of him. I came to an abrupt stop as I tried not to tumble over him. Thor jumped over me as if I wasn't even there and landed on the Cradle with a thud. He raised his hammer into the air and brought down a huge amount of lightning onto the Cradle. I covered my eyes trying to protect them from the light. I could faintly hear the sound of beeping coming from the computer as I crouched down low towards the ground with my hands still shielding my eyes. The flash of lightning stopped as soon as it started. Thor stood there for a couple of awkward seconds before a huge blast came from the Cradle throwing him backwards with a large force.

A man or more accurately a humanoid gracefully flew out of it. He was mainly a crimson color with a silver suit that hugged his body. I almost laughed at the contrast between the humanoid's grace and the explosion through which he came through. He stood up slowly and looked around in what seemed to be wonder before he lashed out towards Thor. Thor quickly picked him up and threw him towards the window in one fluid movement. The humanoid yet again gracefully came to a stop in front of the window right before he crashed through it. I took a step forwards along with Steve ready to attack at the the first sign of hostility when Thor held up a hand indicating us to stay back.

I let out a huff of annoyance as I took a step back. We were consorting with the enemy! Fan-freaking-tastic! "I'm sorry. That was….. odd." humanoid stated successfully bringing me out of my bitter thoughts. I must've been muttering angrily to myself for a while because when I looked up crimson dude was looking around and was a good amount of distance away from the window. "Thor. You helped create this?" Steve asked.

"I've had a vision. A whirlpool that sucks in all hope of life and at its center is that." Thor answered while pointing at the gem in the middle of crimson dude's forehead. "It's the mind stone. It's one of the six infinity stones; the greatest power in the universe unparalleled in its destructive capability." Thor continued. I was still confused. Why would we create a body that has the power to use the mind stone when it was as destructive as Thor said. It's like digging your own grave. As soon as Steve started protesting Thor spoke up again. "We cannot defeat Ultron alone." he said. I looked around the room trying to gauge everyone's expressions and reactions. Steve looked as disgruntled as me. Banner and Tony had neutral expressions on their face but I could tell they were fascinated because of their never ending flurry of questions. Wanda to be honest looked a little awed. I wasn't entirely sure why but was kind of disturbing. Pietro had no expression on his face but judging by his rigid posture and his crossed arms I'm guessing he hadn't fully warmed up to the idea of basically creating another Ultron.

"Why does your Vision sound like Jarvis?" Steve asked. Now that I think about it, he actually did kind of sound like Jarvis. I missed him. I know he's just a program but I had always treated him like he was a human. "We configured Jarvis' matrix to create something new." Tony told us. My eyes widened as I realized that Jarvis was still alive embedded somewhere in that synthetic body. "I think I've had my fair share of new." I drawled out in response.

"You think I'm Ultron. I'm not. I am not Ultron. I am not Jarvis. I am… Vision."

"With him on our side we cou-" Thor started.

"Is he? Are you on our side?" Steve interrupted.

"I don't think it's that simple. I am on the side of life. Ultron isn't." Vision reasoned.

"He's in Sokovia." Hawkeye spoke up.

"I don't want to kill Ultron. He is unique. He is in pain. But if he wants to destroy this world then I will have to destroy him. Along with every trace on the net. We have to act now. Not one of us can do it without the others." Vision told us with a solemn expression on his face. This guy looked like he genuinely cared about the wellbeing of humans. I guess I had no choice other than letting him help us defeat Ultron. He _was_ our only shot at victory. It wouldn't hurt to give him a chance. Unless of course he decided to switch views with Ultron. Then we were all screwed. But I think for now, we could use an ally.

" Maybe there is no way for you to trust me. But for now we need to go." Vision said as he picked up Thor's hammer and held it out for him to take. He then gracefully flew away. All of us were silent for a minute before the room was filled with laughter originating from me. "Who's worthy now?" I mocked Thor through short gasps of laughter. He just glared at me for pointing out what everyone was thinking. Pietro lightly chuckled at my amusement. "Right. Well done." Thor stated patting Stark on the shoulder and walking out of the room.

"Get what you need. We're going to Sokovia." Steve told us after my laughter died down. All of us turned and slowly filed out.

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	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

"Drea, can you show the twins where they can suit up?"

I looked back and nodded in response to Steve's request. To be honest that had me really nervous. We just gained new allies and I didn't have a clue on how they would be or act. The Maximoff twins were surprisingly intimidating. I gestured at them to follow me and proceeded to walk out the door. I made a beeline towards the elevator and hit the button a few times. I knew it wouldn't speed up the elevator in any way but it was worth a try. I stepped to the side a gave an awkward tight-lipped smile. "You know we're not going to eat you right? Don't be afraid." Wanda stated with that accent both of them have. I really need to learn how to control my face expressions. I might as well write all of my feelings on my forehead in bold. That would still probably be less obvious than what my facial expressions show.

I realized that while I was mentally berating myself, the elevator doors opened and the twins were still awaiting my response. "It's not that I'm afraid. I just don't really know anything about you guys except for the data on the computer." I responded as I walked into the elevator. I hit the button inside the elevator a few more times. There was thankfully no stupid, corny elevator music in the Stark tower elevator to contribute to the awkwardness of this conversation. I had to admit though, they were getting less and less intimidating gradually. "Then we can get to know each other. We have time." Pietro suggested. I thought over it. I couldn't see anything bad coming out of getting to know each other. I could use a few friends my age. The only people I had been hanging out with ever since my rescue were the Avengers and a few of their friends. I have no social life whatsoever.

"Where do we start?"

"We can begin with introductions. Lets start over. My name is Pietro Maximoff and this is my twin sister, Wanda." Pietro introduced himself with a small smile on his face. Wanda nodded her head in greeting at me with a similar smile on her face. The twins were not that bad. In fact, they seemed friendly. "I'm Adrianna." I replied with a smile on my face as well.

A half hour later I found myself laughing along with the twins while exchanging funny stories back and forth. We already suited up and we ended up sitting in my room just waiting for everyone else to get ready. I was in my normal battle gear with my polearm by my side. I was leaning against the headboard of my bed with my legs folded. Wanda was sitting next to me while Pietro was splayed across the foot of the bed. "I'm going to go ask when we are leaving. It has been a while and I want to catch Ultron off guard." Wanda told us before getting up and walking across the room towards my door. After the door shut the room was enveloped in a comfortable silence for some time. I just started playing with the hem of my shirt when Pietro spoke up.

"You want to play a game?"

"You're not very patient, are you?" I responded with a slight laugh. I noticed this all throughout our conversations. As soon as one topic died down, Pietro would immediately start another one. It almost seemed like he couldn't stand a minute of complete silence. "The world moves in slow motion and I have to constantly wait for it to catch up to me. It's a tiring process." he answered with a sigh. Apparently I'm not the only one with a detriment to my abilities. I knew exactly where he was coming from. "If it makes you feel any better, I have severe headaches all the time because of my abilities." I stated. To emphasize my point I pulled out my bottle of headache pills and waved it around.

"Do you have one now?"

"Not really."

"That's good."

We lapsed into another silence after that. I realized that Pietro just said that he doesn't like silences so I wracked my brain for something to start a conversation again. "So what was that game you were talking about?" I asked. At the sound of that Pietro's face lit up and he had a huge grin on his face. "It's called-" he started. Before he could even finish the sentence Wanda came through the door with a thud. "We're leaving now." she said with a solemn expression on her face. Pietro and I shared a worried glance before getting up and moving towards the door. We got into the elevator and waited for it to go down. The elevator came to a stop with a ding before the doors opened. On the other side the entire team was waiting for us. We proceeded to walk in the direction of the quinjet and quickly got in. Hawkeye was in the front pushing random buttons and controlling the plane while the rest of us sat in the back.

No one said anything as we thought about the battle ahead. There was no guarantee that all of us would make it out alive. And that terrified me. I had grown to love everyone on the team over the past year. I had grown close with them and got to know them. They were pretty much family to me. Maybe I wasn't to them but they were to me. Even the twins meant quite a bit to me now. I would never want to lose them. They were my first actual friends that I made in a long time. I was never the popular girl even before my capture. I only had a few close friends. I was always the girl in the background. Although I've only known the twins for a very short time I still wanted this newfound friendship to last.

"Ultron knows we are coming. Chances are we are walking into heavy fire. But we signed up for this. The people of Sokovia though did not. Our priority is to get them out. Keep the fight between us. Ultron thinks we are monsters and that we are what is wrong with the world. This isn't just about beating him. It's about whether he is right. So lets move." Steve commanded.

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	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

"Get off the bridge!" I yelled at the civilians.

There were so many people in Sokovia! Out of nowhere thousands and thousands of Ultron drones came flying at all of us from all directions. They started firing lasers randomly in rapid succession. Wanda quickly put up a shield to protect the civilians behind us. To say they were in a state of panic would be an understatement. They were running around like headless chickens and were screaming at the top of their lungs. I can't exactly blame them though. Their reaction was pretty normal for a situation as weird as this one. I realized there was no way I could catch their attention so instead I decided to take on the drones. "Wanda! I'll take care of the drones! Can you get the pedestrians to safety? I can't get their attention." I asked through the earpiece. She looked over and nodded.

I took out my guns from their holster and ran forward towards the drones. I aimed and started firing at them. After a few rounds I realized that it wasn't making too much of a difference shooting long range. I whipped out my polearm and detached it into two pieces. I created a portal in front of me and jumped through landing behind an Ultron look-alike. I thrust one end of the polearm through the neck area and pulled upwards. The head came clean off in one swift movement. I dodged a swipe from another drone by flipping over its arm and turning around to deal a quick but effective blow through its chest. I continued attacking, dodging and maneuvering. It soon became a routine or a kind of dance. I was so in the moment that I didn't even notice Pietro joining me.

Boom! Tremors shook the ground violently and I nearly lost my balance. The drones were forgotten at that moment as all of us gazed in horror at the scene before us. The city was literally rising off of the ground. Cracks were formed along the ground and buildings were toppling down. There was so much destruction all around us. Screams and yells were heard as people cried out in anguish. Debris was haphazardly laying on the ground and huge chunks of rocks were falling from the floating part of the city to the part that was still on the ground.

"Sokovia is going for a ride." FRIDAY stated in a monotonous voice.

"Do you see the beauty of it? The inevitability? You rise, only to fall. You, the Avengers, are my meteor. The earth will crack under the weight of your failure. In the end, the only thing living in this world will be metal." Ultron announced in a smug tone.

I was brought out of my state of shock by a sharp pain in my left leg. I cried out in agony as I grabbed my leg and turned around to see the attacker. Before I even got to see the drone that shot me a blue and silver blur raced past me. The drones around me exploded into a million pieces in the blink of an eye. Pietro appeared in front of me again with a worried expression on his face. "Let me see it." he demanded. He examined the wound as I took my hands off of it. "It's not too deep. I just have to staunch the blood flow. We have to get back to the battle. This is nothing compared to what will come if we don't do anything." I said in a rush of words. He didn't look too convinced as he got back up.

"Fine. Be safe." he muttered before taking off.

After ripping off a piece of my shirt and tying it around my small wound, I jumped right back into the battle. The laser burn definitely hurt while I was fighting but I had been through worse before. "Right now if the city drops, it can kill thousands. But if it rises high enough we might be looking at global extinction." FRIDAY informed us. I tried to ignore that possibility as I jumped onto the back of another drone. I twisted the head and ripped it off resulting in the drone going limp. This didn't seem real to me for some reason. I was really hoping that the whole thing was one big nightmare and sooner or later I would wake up in the Stark Tower to Tony playing his music way too loud in the morning. But I knew this was all just wishful thinking on my part. Life was never that easy for anyone.

"Stark, you worry about bringing this city back down safely. The rest of us have one job: tear these things apart. If you get hurt, hurt them back. If you get killed, walk it off." Steve commanded. I had a wry expression on my face at the sound of his oh so inspiring his speech. Well tearing things apart was something I just happened to be good at. I opened a portal beneath me and landed in front of another drone. I took out my gun and fired a few rounds into the side of its head after knocking it over. It was tough fighting with the drones talking to you like they were Ultron and the ground still shaking but I would be lying if I said Hulk coming out of nowhere and taking out a few dozen drones in one sweep of his arm put a damper on the mood. I almost yelled out in relief at the sight of the green guy. He was certainly a huge help.

"All clear over here." Hawkeye stated.

"It is certainly _not_ clear over here." I responded breathing heavily while kicking another drone. Where the hell did these even come from? It was like a never ending lifetime supply of drones to fight. At this point I had dozens of cuts in random places across my body but I don't think I have ever been more awake or aware of my surroundings. If we weren't in such a tough spot I would probably almost enjoy the exhilaration that comes out of combat. I smirked at the thought of that.

"What do you got Stark?" the Cap' asked.

"Nothing great. Maybe a way to blow up the city."

"I asked for a solution, not an escape plan."

"The radius of impact is getting bigger every second. We are going to have to make a decision."

"Not until everyone is safe."

"Everyone up here versus everyone down there? Thats-" Natasha started to say.

"We are not leaving this rock with one civilian on it." Steve interrupted.

"I didn't say we should leave. There are worse ways for us to go. Where else would we get a view like this?"

I looked over the edge of the city to see clouds everywhere. You couldn't see anything but the bright blue sky shining in all its glory. The clouds really did look like fluffy marshmallows. It was beautiful. I was already prepared to die before I even stepped foot in the city. But I still had so much I wanted to see. I never really got to explore the world. As much as I didn't want to die I guess saving the world is the right thing to do. There wouldn't be anything left if we didn't. The only thing that was keeping me from thinking about how unfair my life was that we would get to piss off Ultron in the process. I will certainly look forward to that. If there was one thing I couldn't stand, it was defeat. I will savor the look on Ultron's metallic face when he realizes that he has just lost.

"I'm glad you enjoy the view Romanoff. It's about to get a whole lot better." Director Fury announced as a huge helicarrier came into view.

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	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

"Lifeboats secure to deploy. Disengage in 3, 2…. take them out."

Mini 'lifeboats' came flying towards Sokovia. It sure was a great sight for sore eyes. I literally was crying tears of happiness and relief. Thank God no one was near except for a few civilians and a few drones. I was not prepared to die no matter how much I thought I was. "This is SHIELD? This is not so bad." Pietro chuckled through the earpiece.

"This is what SHIELD is supposed to be. Let's load them up." Steve answered. Multiple drones flew towards the lifeboats only to get shot down by Tony and War Machine immediately. They had a playful banter going on between them the whole time as they took out the incoming threats with ease. That sight elicited a loud woo-hoo from me. I had a huge grin on my face as I looked around. Everyone looked so happy to see the helicarrier and the lifeboats. It gave all of us hope. That was something you could use a lot of during a war. I started leading everyone towards the lifeboats carefully while taking out any nearby drones. It was all going really smoothly.

"Thor I got a plan!" the billionaire told informed.

"We're out of time. They're coming for the core." Thor yelled back.

"Avengers, it's time to work for a living."

I smirked at the sound of that. After I rushed the last of the civilians in the vicinity towards the lifeboat I turned around and created a portal taking me in the direction of the key. The key is the thing that is keeping the city up. If Ultron twists it, which is currently his goal, the city would plummet towards the ground and billions of people will perish in the explosion caused by the collision. I continued opening various portals until I got to the area the key was situated. Everyone was already there except for Romanoff. "Finally decided to join us?" Tony remarked. "Where's Romanoff?" I asked completely ignoring Tony's remark. "Not all of us can fly." Natasha stated as she walked in.

We all formed a circle around the key. We were in an old looking temple type building. It was open all around and had small windows too at the top where it curved into the shape of a dome. I'm willing to bet that this temple was a significant part of Sokovian history. It's sad how war not only destroys the future, but also the past. Ultron was hovering in the air in front of us a few dozen meters away from where we were standing while Hulk proceeded to rip apart one of the drones near us. "Is that the best you can do?" Thor challenged loudly. Right after he asked Ultron lifted his arms up slowly as if awakening something. Hundreds and hundreds of drones came up from behind Ultron and attacked us from all directions. It's a good thing we were already in a circle. Defending the key is going to be hard.

"You just had to ask didn't you?" I ground out while trying to keep one of the drones' hands away from my face. An arrow appeared between his eye as I was just about to throw him towards the ground. The drone twitched for a few seconds before falling to the ground in a heap. Another one immediately replaced that one. I took out my polearm and started to battle. I created a portal next to me. Thor jumped through it and took out a bunch of drones where he appeared. This routine continued for a while: kick, stab, shoot, portal, assist etc. We worked in perfect harmony. Each member on the team predicted the other member's move before they even did it. I create a portal for someone, they jump through and take out a few drones. Another person covers my area while I do that. We had all sides covered perfectly.

"This is exactly how I wanted it. How could you possibly stop me?" Ultron stated.

"Exactly how the old man wanted it….. together." Tony retaliated.

We continued to fight for a while. I stuck my polearm through another drone and threw it at Wanda who quickly pulled it apart using her telekinetic powers. I opened a portal in front of Barton who jumped through it and ended up near the windows where there was a ledge to shoot from. He stayed there and shot arrows at drones from above. Vision kept shooting lasers originating from his mind stone at the drones while flying around directly above the key. I couldn't even see Pietro while he raced around the entire place destroying all lingering drones. Thor used his hammer and electrified all the drones near him while Steve destroyed them with his vibranium shield. Hulk smashed all drones in his sight. I swear he could be an army by himself. Natasha was a deadly whirlwind with her guns and electric staff. We all made an amazing team.

Through the corner of my eye I saw Ultron charging towards Vision who threw him sideways and immediately shot a laser continuously at Ultron's face. Iron Man joined in along with Thor who aimed a huge amount of lightning at Ultron. His face was melting as he tried to cover it from the onslaught of attacks. Hulk suddenly went in and punched Ultron. Ultron went flying clean across the city. "The air is getting thin. We have to get to the boats. I'll check for stragglers." Steve told us. "What about the core?" Barton asked.

"I'll protect it. It's my job." Wanda stated.

Everyone went their separate ways after that. I ran towards one of the lifeboats. I got on and looked around at the debris for any civilians. In the distance I saw Hawkeye jogging out towards a kid from his respective lifeboat. I was just about to go in and relax when I heard the sound of a machine gun firing. I looked up to see a small quinjet shooting randomly. When I looked closer I realized that Ultron was inside of it. This guy really doesn't know when to give up. I looked down again to see what had his attention when I saw that Barton was in direct line of fire with the little kid in his hands. He had no defense. My eyes widened in horror at the scene that was unfolding in front of me.

I wasn't thinking straight when I did what I did next. There was a thousand other things I could've done. I opened a portal in front of me and jumped through it. I realized in the split second that I got there that even Pietro was there. He apparently saw the same thing as me. I grabbed both of them and dragged them into another portal that I created. We landed on the ground on the other side of the city. I collapsed right then and there. "Adrianna! Your nose is bleeding! What happened?" Pietro asked frantically.

"No no no no! Her portal landed us on the other side of the city! This is way too far away! She can't make long distance portals!" Hawkeye yelled.

And that's when my vision went dark.


	17. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

"Addy! Addy! Addy!"

"Oof!" I grunted in a very unladylike way when I felt a considerable weight fall onto my stomach. I shot up at once with my eyes wide and arms up in a defensive gesture. I looked down in the general direction of my stomach to find a mop of blonde hair in my face. It tickled my nose causing a weird feeling to go through my nose and spread across my face. Achoo! I shut my eyes and brought my hands up to cover my mouth when I sneezed. "Bless you Addy!" a sweet voice sung out. I immediately froze in place, eyes widening in disbelief. There is only one person in the world that calls me Addy up to date.

I looked down again to see the smiling face of my little brother Tommy staring back at me. Tears welled up in my eyes at the sight of his familiar eyes, his adorable smile and his messy hair that never seemed to stay down. Last time I saw him was when he was dying. Another wave of tears hit me as I thought about that terrible day that changed my life completely. Thankfully none of the tears slipped down my face. I was too in shock and lost in thought to even register the fact that Tommy was saying something to me. "Sorry, what?" I croaked out. He gave me a funny look before he got up off of the bed and jumped up and down beside the bed I was sleeping in. "Mommy sent me to wake you up. We're going to the zoo today!" he exclaimed with a squeal of joy.

"Mom? She's here?" I asked.

"Duh. Dummy! This is our house." he replied before dashing out of the room I was in.

When I looked around, I realized that I wasn't just in any room. I was in my old room from before I was taken. Everything was exactly the same as I remembered. The walls were painted a baby blue color and the curtains covering the windows were a complementary color. The carpet on the floor was a beige color and on my dresser was my old cell phone. I almost fell over from the wave of nostalgia that hit me at the sight of my messy desk that I used to spend long nights at. It was still covered in papers and books. Even my old poster of Eminem was still there. I was a huge fan when I was younger. I got up and walked towards my bathroom. This can't be real. It was too good to be true. Was this the afterlife? The last thing I remember is the war against Ultron.

I opened the bathroom door and stood in front of the mirror. I gasped at the sight that greeted me. I raised my hand and gingerly touched my hair. It was blonde. Freaking blonde! I also looked younger. I realized I looked exactly like how I did when I was 14. As soon as I realized that I was basically in the past I went sprinting out the door and down the stairs of the house that I still remembered so well. I came to a screeching halt when I reached the kitchen. In front of me was my mom. She was cooking and dancing to the sound of the radio playing in the background. Tears pricked my eyes at the sight in front of me. I never thought I would get to see her again alive and without the sneer on her face that I so often see in my nightmares. I choked back a sob as she turned around. Now I could see her face clearly and she looked as beautiful as always to me.

"Whoa! Adrianna, don't sneak up on me like that! You scared the bejeezus out of me!" my mom, whose name is Morgan, exclaimed with her hand placed over her heart. She was always a drama queen I thought as I looked at her with a sad smile on my face. "What's wrong honey? You seem down. Did anything happen?" she asked with a concerned look on her face. I missed this. I didn't realize the extent of how much I missed my old life until now. "Nothing. I just missed you." I replied with a hopefully convincing smile.

"Aww I missed you too! What has it been? 8 hours since we had dinner last night? It's been way too long girl." she giggled as she wrapped me in a big hug. I laughed loudly as I clung on to her and lost myself in her warm embrace. "So are you up for some pancakes?" my mom questioned. I nodded in response with an actual smile on my face this time. I went over and sat at the small table in the kitchen singing along with my mom to the song on the radio. If this is how the afterlife is, I am totally fine with it. I was too happy to think about anything else except for what was happening then. I wanted to forget about all my worries and just live in that moment. "Is that Beyonce I hear?" a deep voice inquired.

"Dad!" I exclaimed before rushing off towards him and giving him a hug. He awkwardly patted my back and let out a chuckle at my unusual behavior. I'm usually always grumpy in the morning. I let out my own chuckle when I saw how awkward my dad felt as I hugged him. He was always an awkward one. I never really understood how the outgoing and bubbly Morgan ended up with the shy and awkward Christopher. It was absolutely adorable. I decided to spare my dad the embarrassment and went back over to my previous spot. Just then Tommy came running in yelling something about hyenas. He has been obsessed ever since he saw Lion King. Apparently there are going to be hyenas in the zoo we are going to and boy was Tommy excited.

"Breakfast is served my little munchkins!"

Yay! All of us took our respective places and dug in. I drowned my pancakes in maple syrup and took a huge bite. "Mmmm. So good." I moaned. These pancakes were so freaking delicious. "Chew with your mouth closed Adrianna." my dad scolded. I just stuck my tongue out in response after I swallowed. We all quickly devoured our breakfast and dumped our plates in the dishwasher after rinsing. I went back into my room and took a shower. I threw on a random pair of shorts, paired it with a tank top and a cardigan and ran a brush through my hair. We all met up in front of the front door.

"Who's ready to go to the zoo?"

* * *

 **Tell me what you think about this chapter!**  
 **I hope you like it!**  
 **;)**


	18. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

"Ugh I'm so tired. I can't walk anymore!"

I fell dramatically to the floor with a hand placed over my heart. We had _finally_ reached home after a particularly long and tiresome day. I never knew the zoo was so big! It might as well have been a city by itself. Ok maybe I exaggerated a bit but it was huge! We spent 4 hours walking continuously and seeing the various animals there. I swear we spent about a half hour at the hyena exhibit alone. Tommy wouldn't stop pointing and yelling random facts about them. We got so many weird looks from the people around us. It was mortifying and amusing at the same time.

"Why does the flair for drama run in this family?" my dad muttered while shaking his head at the ground. My mom on the other hand loved playing along. She happily joined the act. "Oh no! Someone call 911! The poor girl has been overworked!" she exclaimed with her face twisted in a faux shocked expression. Both of us burst out in laughter at our own antics. "Weirdos." Tommy teased before busying himself with his new toys from the zoo's souvenir shop. I got up off the floor and headed back to my room to take a shower. I smelled like I did snow angels in elephant poop which by the way elephant poop can apparently dull pain. It's one of the many unnecessary pieces of information I learned today but still found interesting.

I peeled off all my clothes and got into the shower. It felt heavenly. I thought about how happy I was after the longest time. I never wanted to leave. I was back where I belonged. But….. I kind of missed my friends. They had been there when I needed them the most. Which reminds me, I still have no clue how I got here. I'm sure as hell hoping that this is the afterlife though. The only thing is I don't know what happened after I passed out. Did we win? Or did I escape a horrible death? I don't remember any intense pain that I am sure would come with global destruction. I decided to stop worrying myself and think about something else. I spent the rest of my shower humming a song that I don't quite remember. It turned into a full blown one man concert after a while.

I wrapped a towel around myself and stepped out onto the cold tiled floor. I picked out a pair of sweatpants and an oversized shirt to sleep in. I quickly put them on and dried my hair. I decided to have a little time to myself and started rummaging through all of my drawers and my closet. I didn't know what I was looking for but I just felt like seeing all my old belongings. I sifted through what seemed like thousands of things. Pictures, school projects, books, accessories and a whole bunch of other things were crammed in the little space. I had a lot of junk in these drawers but the memories they brought back were priceless. I sat there with a smile on my face for the longest time thinking about how I was when I had a normal life. I was completely different. Then reality hit me.

"Whoa! It's 9! I'm late for dinner!" I muttered. We have this rule in our house that we have to be at the dinner table by 8:50 without any electronics or we would only get leftovers. This started ever since the iPad came out. Everyone was immersed in their own virtual world and we didn't talk to each other as much. My mom decided to put her foot down and get us back in order. That's when this policy was born. I rushed down the stairs and jumped into the dining room with my hands on my knees. I breathed in and out deeply. "Sorry I'm late! I got carried away." I apologized. When I looked up I was surprised to see them sitting there with smiles on their faces.

"Oh it's ok. We can excuse you this one time."

"Not fair!" Tommy protested with a pout. I slid into my seat with a smirk on my face aimed at Tommy. He just harrumphed in response. I snickered and dug into my food. I shoveled it into my mouth and finished it in record time. I gulped down a glass of water and sat back with a sigh of content. I was filled to the brim that was for sure. My dad and brother eventually got up and left with a burp coming from each. I laughed at their behavior. Just when I was about to get up and leave my mom reached out and caught my arm. I gave her a questioning look. She dragged me towards the sofa and sat down patting the spot next to her. "Honey….. You have to go back. They need you." she whispered. My eyes widened in surprise. "What are you talking about?" I asked.

"Your friends, The Avengers, need you. They are waiting for you. You can't stay here. I would never want that for you." she told me with solemn look etched onto her face. I stared at her while I waited for the information to sink in. "Where are we then?" I whimpered. I grabbed onto the fraying corner of a nearby pillow and held on to it like it was a lifeline. I didn't want to leave. I was happy here.

"This is your subconscious. Everything you've seen since you passed out was created by you."

"What?"

"You need to go back. You can't stay here any longer or you will remain here forever. Live your life."

"No! Please!I don't want to lose you again!"

"Go. It's time."

Everything faded into darkness. Again. I couldn't see anything for a while. It was pitch black. I tried to walk forward but it felt like I was walking through quicksand. I felt like I was suffocating. I started to panic and let out a guttural sob. Was I stuck in my own subconscious? Did I damage my brain this bad because of that portal? Suddenly a bright light appeared in the distance. My limbs finally felt free again. I shielded my eyes from the blinding light as I began to run towards it. This was it. I spread my arms and sprinted the last few steps.

"She's awake." an unfamiliar voice gasped.

* * *

 **I hope this cleared up the confusion from the previous chapter!**  
 **Review if you like it! It helps a lot!**


	19. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

"She's awake." an unfamiliar voice gasped.

I shut my eyes immediately to protect them from the glaring lights above me. I groaned loudly as I tried to slowly open my eyes, getting them to adjust to the sudden onslaught of bright light. Eventually everything came into focus and I shot up from the bed I was sleeping in. I looked around to find myself in a painfully clean hospital room. It was too white. A nurse was staring at me with what seemed to be a shocked expression on her face. I just looked back at her with a confused look on my face. I then looked down to see only a skimpy white hospital gown covering me that had an eerie resemblance to the gown I wore during my captivity. I quickly looked away to avoid any memories resurfacing.

What surprised me more was the fact that Steve was sitting in a chair next to my hospital bed snoring loudly. It was a weird sight. "What's wrong with me?" I demanded with a determined look on my face. The nurse almost recoiled in fear. Am I seriously that scary? "Well?" I further questioned. She seemed to be knocked out of her trance by my question since she jumped up again. "You weren't supposed to wake up so soon. Your condition was terrible. We didn't expect you to wake up at all actually. You were in a coma…." she timidly answered before muttering something and running out the door.

What the hell? A coma? Exactly how long was I passed out?

Before I even got to think about it a huge bang emitted from the area Steve was sleeping in. When I looked over I was greeted by the sight of broken glass scattered across the floor with a metal tray in the middle of it all like an an ugly centerpiece. Steve was staring at it with wide eyes. "Huh?" he whispered before looking up to see me. His eyes got even wider when he saw that I awake. I'm going to take a wild guess here and assume that Steve knocked the tray over in his sleep. I snickered at the image that came to my mind. This guy really knows how to make an entrance.

"Adrianna." he stated with a smile on his face. I smiled back at him and was about to open my mouth to give a cheeky reply when his smile suddenly morphed into an angry scowl. "What the hell were you thinking? You almost killed yourself! Are you _stupid_?" he sneered in a totally unSteve-like way which is probably what scared me the most. I've never seen him this furious. But that last question really pissed me off. I refuse to just sit here and accept insults as they were thrown at me! I glared back at him defiantly. "I was thinking about Barton and his family! I couldn't just let him die! I don't regret a single thing I did and nothing you or anyone else says will change that." I growled. Steve abruptly stood up, knocking his chair over in the process, and stalked towards me with a menacing look on his face.

Before he could say anything the door opened with a click. A short balding man came in with a clipboard in hand that he seemed to be completely immersed in. He didn't even glance up as he walked over to the foot of the bed that I was situated in. Steve slowly walked towards the door to exit after giving me one last glare. "We'll finish this conversation later." he whispered. A conversation? He calls this a conversation? I would hate to see an argument then. I sighed and focused on the sound of his footsteps fade away as I waited patiently for the doctor to say something. He was seriously taking his own sweet time.

Eventually I lost my patience after what seemed like hours to me but were probably only minutes in real life. "So? What is it?" I pestered. He finally looked up at me and gave me a once-over. I let out a sigh of relief at the movement even though I felt slightly violated and self-conscious under his scrutiny. I was just glad he didn't decide to stay like how he previously was. "What happened there?" he asked as he gestured to the broken glass on the floor. Really dude? I couldn't believe my ears. After all that time, that's what he asks? "Um long story. More importantly, what exactly happened to me? Was I really in a coma?" I asked. He stared at me for a few more seconds evaluating me before finally opening his mouth to reply.

"You had a minor brain aneurysm. That means an artery in your brain swelled up because of the increased blood pressure. I'm guessing you used to have headaches before this. Am I right? Anyways, long story short we clotted that particular artery through surgery. For some reason, you fell into a coma even though the surgery went through without any complications. We just chalked that up to your will to survive. I'm surprised you came back. I was informed of your past after I saw your scars and I didn't think you would come back. I am a high level SHIELD agent after all. I have to know important things about my patient." he said in a matter-of-fact tone. I was just too shocked to even say anything.

An aneurysm? Seriously? A _freaking_ aneurysm? But that didn't affect me nearly as much as the comment about my past. It brought back memories. It also reminded me of the second separation from my family. That thought nearly brought me to tears right there. "I need some time to myself." I forced out through the quickly forming lump in my throat. The doctor, whose name was Dr. Anderson from what I could see sewn on his lab coat, nodded and walked away. "Don't stress your brain too much again. I can't guarantee you'll survive next time. Your headaches might continue too. Don't ignore them. Get some rest." he adviced before finally leaving.

His advice went through one ear and out the other as I thought about my parents. My parents. I almost forgot. I felt my stomach tighten and I knew that this was not because of my physical condition. I closed my eyes, trying to block out the pain. But when I did, I saw them. I felt my eyes fill up with tears at the sight of their smiling faces. They would always be something I long for but can never get back. I thought about all they've ever done for me while all I did for them was get them killed. More memories flashed through my mind as I thought about that day. I started to sob freely when it came to the part with their mangled bodies on the floor. The salty taste of tears was all I could sense as my eyes blurred and everything became a white haze. I was a mess with my nose running and hair disheveled from pulling on it in frustration.

I balled my fists and held onto the bedsheets as I tried not to scream from the psychological pain these memories brought. I cried for my father, my mother, my brother and everything that I had lost. I cried for the longest time but the tears never stopped flowing. I let out all my emotions. Everything I had kept locked up for 5 years. The times I held in my tears and anger directed at the HYDRA scientists when they laughed at my misfortune, the times I tried to stay strong even when I was broken on the inside and even when I was filled with the intense feeling of hopelessness during the battle against Ultron.

I let everything out in that moment.

Until all I was left with was an empty, hollow feeling.

* * *

 **I just wanted to take the time and say thank you to my dear friend DemonA1006 for helping me with this chapter and supporting me throughout.**  
 **She gave me inspiration and she is an amazing human being that I am blessed to know!**  
 **I also wanted to say thank you to all the readers! I couldn't have made it this far without your support!**  
 **;)**


	20. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

Apparently almost dying has many benefits.

"Here's your hot chocolate." a nurse announced. I accepted it gratefully with a huge grin on my face. I sipped it and let out a sigh of content. Hot chocolate was great. But getting it served to you in bed was the best feeling ever. It has been a week since I woke up. Today was the day I would finally be able to get out of this plain room and be free again. I got quite a few visitors over the past few days. Tony, Natasha, Pietro and Wanda were daily visitors. Even War Machine visited once in a while which was a bit of a surprise. I barely knew the man. Just a few conversation here and there. I found him to be great company whenever he dropped by though. What really bothered me was the fact that Banner and Clint never visited.

"Hey Drea. Feeling better?" Natasha asked. I almost spit my hot chocolate out at her sudden appearance. I tried to swallow and ended up having a coughing fit. "Fine." I croaked out. The Black Widow just chuckled at my predicament. Lately she seemed down and totally out of it. I frowned at her but didn't want to pry. Instead I decided to ask something that had been bugging me over the past few days. "Where are Banner and Barton? Are they on a mission? I haven't seen them at all." I enquired as my frown deepened. For a moment she looked bewildered but almost instantly her usual placid demeanor was in place again.

"Banner is gone. He disappeared after the war. Barton left SHIELD. He's with his family now. His wife just had another baby so he couldn't stay for your recovery." she explained. So that's why she seemed down. Her best friend and the one she adored were gone. "Oh…." I lamely responded. I almost smacked myself for the complete lack of compassion. Before I got to embarrass myself further Natasha spoke. "Tony is leaving now. I came to get you. I thought you would want to say goodbye." she stated. I nodded meekly in response. I got out of bed and slipped on a pair of shoes before I walked out the door. It took one glance around to realized I had no clue where I was supposed to go.

"Follow me."

We walked through so many white corridors that all looked the same. As we were making our way through, I thought about how Banner and Clint left. Thor returned to Asgard because of some 'issue' that came up. Even Tony was leaving the Avengers. First, I lost my family. Now I'm losing all my friends too. The only reason I was still sane was because of my friends. They helped me get through losing my family again. The day I woke up I was a mess. I barely looked at or spoke to anyone. They gradually got me back to myself by giving me other things to be preoccupied with but even then I could never forget it completely. I was genuinely grateful though. At this point, I consider them as family. They're all I have left.

I was relieved when we finally reached the exit to the building. Color! Yes! I was deprived of anything colorful the past few days. SHIELD really needs to add color to their buildings. It was suffocating. But what really grabbed my attention was the bright orange sports car that looked like it cost a fortune. Tony was casually leaning against it in a manner that screamed ostentatious. Steve was already there. We made brief eye contact before he turned away with a neutral expression on his face. Even Pietro and Wanda were there. It was nice to see the progression they've made from hating Tony's guts to being civil around him.

"Finally decided to get up?"

I scowled at him. "I was injured!" I protested indignantly.

"Injured, my ass."

I huffed in irritation at his retort. Eventually I decided to put it aside and smiled instead. "I'm going to miss you." I stated.

"Me too, kid."

I spread my arms and stepped towards him for a hug before I was rudely interrupted.

"Not that much." he cut in.

I laughed at that. I should've expected it. I wasn't offended in the slightest since I understood that he needed to keep up his sarcastic and nonchalant facade to stay sane in his crazy world. I just nodded in respect and he subtly nodded back too in his own way of saying goodbye. After we all bid our goodbyes Tony sped away in his overly flamboyant car. I rolled my eyes when he purposefully revved his engine just to annoy us. We stood there until he disappeared from sight. Things were definitely going to be different now. I didn't necessarily like the thought of change. It was terrifying to say the least.

I turned around and just started to walk towards Steve to make amends when he abruptly spun around and made his way back into the SHIELD base. I sighed realizing that it might take a while before he even considers forgiving me. I trudged back towards the depressing hospital wing with my head hanging in defeat. As I got to the entrance I heard the sound of footsteps fall into pace with me. I glanced to the side to find a smiling Pietro. I wearily smiled back at him. At least I hoped it was a smile. We walked all the way back to my hospital room in a comfortable silence. More like I followed him. I still can't figure out the directions.

I immediately jumped onto my bed and got comfortable before looking at Pietro. He was sitting in the chair next to my bed. "So, what's up? Where's Wanda?" I asked breaking the silence. I was surprised to see the other twin not in the room with us. They usually came for visits together. "She hates hospitals. Too much pain in here. She tries to stay away as much as possible." he answered with that adorable accent. How could I forget? I'm surprised she came as many times as she did in that case. "So did you know that we are putting together a new team?" Pietro continued. My eyes widened at that. How could no one tell me this?

"Seriously? Who's in the new Avengers? When did this even happen? Are you sure? How come I don't know anything about this?" I sent out a flurry of questions. Pietro just chuckled at my expression. Now that I think I about it, it should've been obvious. We are obviously going to need replacements.

"You really are something, you know."

I blushed furiously at that.

* * *

 **I hope you like the new chapter!**  
 **Please review if you like it!**  
 **;)**


	21. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

"Meet the new team."

Well they certainly seemed to find replacements pretty fast. I stared at the new members with what I hoped was a neutral expression. I actually knew everyone except for one guy. The new additions to the team were War Machine, Wanda, Pietro, Vision and a guy named Falcon. I have never seen Falcon before today but I had heard of him and I was informed that he would be here today. I was a little wary of the new team since I wasn't too happy about the change. I was comfortable fighting next to the previous members. I knew their strengths and weaknesses while fighting. I didn't know much about some of the new members like War Machine, Vision and Falcon.

"All of us are going to start training together tomorrow. I expect everyone to be here. No excuses. Get to know each other until then." Steve ordered strictly. He didn't even spare me a glance as he walked out of the room with Natasha. I'm seriously getting tired of his bullshit. I am going to have a talk with him whether he is happy about it or not…. sometime in the near future. I wasn't really looking forward to it. It's definitely not going to be a pleasant conversation. I'm just going to have to suck it up and do whats right.

"Adrianna!" I heard someone call. I glanced up to see Wanda walking up to me with a small smile on her face. It was annoyingly quiet in the room. Vision left a while ago probably thinking this was stupid. Everyone turned to look at me. "Hey." I grinned back. It's been a while since I've normally talked to Wanda. I genuinely missed her. "Are you feeling better?" Wanda asked lightheartedly. Behind her, Pietro started walking towards us with a smirk followed by War Machine. Falcon reluctantly came towards me too. I guess I wasn't the only one uncomfortable with the notion of meeting new people.

"Peachy." I remarked sarcastically. Rhodey (War Machine) lightly chuckled at my answer but when a look of confusion spread over Wanda's face, I realized that English was not her first language and she probably didn't understand my answer. "I'm fine." I quickly corrected. She looked pleased with my answer. The room quickly lapsed into an awkward silence once again. I really needed to break the thick layer of tension in here before I collapsed under the weight of it. It was suffocating. I fidgeted uncomfortably racking my brain for something to say. My brain stops functioning at the most inconvenient of times.

Before I got to open my mouth and most likely say something embarrassing, Falcon spoke. "Well I guess I'll start off the introductions. I'm Sam Wilson." he stated. I let out a sigh of relief. "I'm Adrianna." I introduced myself with a friendly smile mainly directed at Sam since he was the only I haven't met at least once before. Everyone introduced themselves one by one. "So what are your abilities? I don't know much about you guys. I have this thing called exo-falcon that lets me fly." Sam said pointing at his back. There was a device that looked like a backpack where he was pointing. I took a step closer to get a good look at it.

Whoosh! I jumped back with a sharp yelp right into Rhodey, nearly knocking him over and stepping on his foot in the process. "Whoa!" he exclaimed with his arms raised up in defense. I stared at the wings that seemingly popped out of the backpack with a hand placed over my heart. "Warn me if you're going to sprout wings next time!" I exclaimed pathetically. Gee I'm going to have to give myself a pat on the back for first impressions. I looked ridiculous. I could tell from the way Pietro was snickering to himself beside me. I gave him a sharp jab to the ribs before smiling sweetly at him. He glared at me in response.

"I'll keep that in mind." Sam joked.

"My turn." Pietro announced with a huge smirk on his face. Uh-oh. I knew I was in for it judging by the mischievous glint in his eye. Before I could even try to move I was picked up by Pietro and thrown over his shoulder in one quick movement. The world became a blur of colors as he ran around in what I assumed were circles. I couldn't really tell in my state. I put a hand over my mouth trying not to puke and closed my eyes. I groaned as I felt Pietro come to an abrupt halt. He put me down and I staggered as I clutched my head. Everything was spinning. To say I was disoriented was an understatement.

"What? You didn't see that coming?"

I scowled at his trademark remark. Wanda gasped before slapping his shoulder lightly. Everyone else had knowing smiles on their faces to my dismay. After a moment of silence in which I was silently fuming, Rhodey stepped forward. "I'm pretty sure my suit here is self-explanatory." he commented while gesturing at his iron suit. Yes it is. "So you're Iron Man 2.0?" Sam asked. I snorted. "You could say that." Rhodey answered with a proud grin on his face. He shot a laser out of the palm of his suit at a wall behind Sam as if to prove his statement. Sam turned around to find a smoking black hole in the wall. He whistled and looked genuinely impressed.

"And you?" he asked looking at Wanda. I froze in place as I saw memories flash before my eyes. I shook my head quickly to get rid of them and tried to shove them back deep in my mind. Pietro cast a worried worried glance in my direction before putting a comforting arm over my shoulder. I smiled gratefully at him and leaned into his side. I thought I saw him smile in satisfaction out of the corner of my eye but when I looked his face was back to normal. I didn't want Wanda to feel bad so I put on a neutral expression. What she did was not her fault and I will not blame her for it. So when Wanda looked back at me I smiled reassuringly at her. She smiled back and demonstrated her abilities to Sam. "Thank you for doing that." Pietro muttered under his breath to me.

"I already know what you do. Steve told me. He said that you aren't supposed to use your powers so he told me to make sure of that." Sam apologized looking at me. I was absolutely livid! How dare he! I can't believe Steve thought I needed a babysitter! I was capable of taking care of myself! I angrily stomped out of the door after I threw Pietro's arm off of me. I felt a pang of guilt for taking my anger out on him but the resentment I had for Steve in that moment consumed me and I couldn't think properly. I ground my teeth and my hands balled into fists as I stomped in no apparent direction. I was acting irrationally but I didn't care. I was too furious in that moment to care about anything.

"STEVE!" I bellowed.

He was just going around a corner when he looked back with wide eyes. When he saw me his eyes hardened to a steely gaze. He stood his ground with his arms crossed. "I am _not_ a little baby! I can make my own decisions and take care of myself! So stop breathing down my neck! You are not my dad!" I fumed. I'm pretty sure my face was red from my rant. Steve was staring at me with a serious expression on his face. At this point everything he was doing was pissing me off. All he had to do was breathe and I felt like throwing something. I breathed in and out deeply as I tried to calm myself. I closed my eyes and counted to ten before opening them again. I finally felt a little better. Steve just stood there waiting for me to calm myself down.

"Done?" he asked after patiently waiting for some time. I glared at him for his nonchalant attitude. I come stomping all the way from the training room screaming and all he does is stand there listening to me like this was a daily occurrence. Like it was something normal. It was pretty annoying to see him so placid. I _needed_ to see some type of reaction before I went insane. "I know I'm not your dad. I never will be. I also know you are not a baby. I'm not trying to make you feel like one. But I am the one that found you a year ago when you were vulnerable. I still can't forget how scared and hopeless you looked in that cell; bloody and beaten. That's why I feel the need to protect you. I can't see you like that a second time." he argued.

I sighed after hearing his argument. I couldn't help but feel bad about that.

"Fine. I get where you're coming from. I'm sorry for yelling and almost killing myself. I wasn't thinking straight."

"And I'm sorry for being mad at you, not hearing you out and ignoring you. I don't blame you for risking your life. It was a respectable thing but I just wish you found a better way."

"So are we good?"

"Yeah."

* * *

 **Hey guys! I'm sorry about the late update!**  
 **It was my birthday yesterday and I had been so stressed about it for the past week... I wasn't really in the mood to write so I apologize for that.**  
 **Anyway I hope you like this chapter. I'm sorry if it isn't that great. I've had a lot on my mind.**  
 **Have a great day and keep reviewing so I can improve my writing!  
Thanks for reading!  
;)**


	22. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

"Laps around the entire building! Go!"

Pietro raced ahead of all of us probably having the time of his life. The rest of us were stuck running at a normal pace under the blazing sun. "Showoff." I muttered under my breath grumpily.

"What's that?"

I yelped in surprise at the sound of Pietro's voice. Before I could even respond he was gone, leaving me in the middle of a mini tornado of dust. I scowled as I tried to flatten my hair to no avail. I grumbled as I continued jogging the third lap around the whole building. Stamina was not my forte. I was at the back of the whole group with Wanda to accompany me. The feminist inside me awakened as I noticed that all the men were in the front laughing and joking as they jogged with ease. A determined expression replaced my previous expression of exhaustion and I sped up a little.

Eventually I caught up with the others (excluding Pietro) and passed by with a smirk on my face. Just as I thought my inner feminist was satiated, Falcon passed me with a competitive smirk on his face. I growled and ran faster. He kept up with my pace whenever I sped up. In the end, we were full out sprinting and laughing from the pure exhilaration running through our veins. Even War Machine joined us in our little race. A sly smirk crept up on my face as a plan formulated in my head. I held up a hand, about to create a portal, when Steve yelled at us, causing us all to come to an abrupt halt. I stumbled from surprise and fell to the ground. Thankfully, I only got a scratch from the whole ordeal.

"What are you doing?" Steve asked calmly. You could hear the barely contained annoyance in his voice. The three of us sheepishly looked up at Steve. I felt like a child getting scolded for stealing a chocolate. My cheeks turned red in embarrassment. Wanda and Pietro watched us with amused expressions on their faces. Especially Pietro. He could barely contain his snickering. I glared in his general direction. He was probably enjoying my predicament.

"We need to focus. We can't afford not to. The world needs us to be strong." Steve stated with a stern look directed at each of us, including Pietro and Wanda. Wow. No pressure. I knew he was right but I just wanted a little break from the whole 'saving the world' business. Instead of voicing my thoughts however, I whispered quietly, "Sorry Steve. It won't happen again."

We just got back on good terms and I didn't want to ruin that.

Steve nodded, accepting the apology. He then waved his hand in the air signaling us to start running again. The exhaustion from sprinting earlier kicked in and I was ready to collapse by the end of the first lap. My lungs were dying from a lack of oxygen and I'm pretty sure my face was red from over-exertion. I was panting as the sun felt like it was blazing hotter than ever before. It felt like the heat radiating off of it just intensified tenfold. After what felt like eternity, but was probably only two laps, Steve finally told us to stop. I came to a halt and tried to keep my jelly legs wobbling too much. I greedily drank a whole bottle of water to try and re-energize myself although it didn't work.

"Alright, lets get inside. Hand to hand combat practice is next. Natasha is in charge of this one." Steve ordered.

I groaned in a loud and unladylike fashion expecting it to be unheard in the chorus of groans that I was sure would erupt from the others. Unfortunately, it was completely quiet. I was the only one who groaned and it sure was heard by everyone. They all stared at me with a look that screamed 'she's definitely a weirdo'. I smacked myself and covered my face in embarrassment. Steve smiled amusedly at me before saying, "You have a problem with that, Drea?".

I scowled at him knowing he was purposefully doing this just to spite me.

"Nope. Not at all. I'm just peachy." I sarcastically answered. A stupid smile spread across my face as everyone chuckled at my remark. I prayed for things to remain this way forever. We all headed back in to the SHIELD building to undergo the next form of torture. Natasha was standing there in the middle of the training area looking like a female red-headed devil there solely for the purpose of torturing us. I almost laughed aloud at the visual that popped up in my head. I have a weird imagination.

"Is everyone here? I'm going to freshen up your combat skills. We can't have anyone rusty now, can we? Any volunteers for the demonstration?"

I snorted. I doubt anyone would want to get beaten up voluntarily. Natasha turned and smirked at me upon hearing my snort. Shit. This was the second time today that I brought unnecessary attention to myself by making a weird noise. I was ready to bang my head against a nearby wall at my own stupidity. Repeatedly. Knowing Natasha, what she would do next would not be something that I would like. Or even be okay with. I nervously played with the hem of my shirt, trying not to seem too intimidated.

"Oh? What's that? You want to volunteer, Adrianna? Come on up. I have no objections." Natasha drawled with a smirk on her face. My shoulders slumped as I stepped out of the group. Why does the world hate me today? I trudged towards Natasha in the middle of the training room. I lazily took the proper stance and held my arms up to protect my face. No amount of preparation would make me ready to fight against Natasha so I didn't even bother. As long as my limbs were intact, I was fine. I tried to recall all the things Natasha had taught me in the past about hand-to-hand combat. My mind drew up a blank. The least I could do was try not to look like a total idiot fighting. Pietro was watching. He would never let me hear the end of it. At least that's what I convinced myself the reason was for trying to impress him.

"Good posture. Now let's start. I want everyone to go through this routine. Repeat it until you can't move anymore. Since almost everyone already knows the basics, we are going to work more on teamwork later on. Just take this as a warm-up class." Natasha ordered. With that she threw a flurry of punches at me. Since I was expecting a warning, I wasn't exactly ready. She landed two punches on my cheek before I started dodging and blocking. My cheek stung as she relentlessly punched over and over. Only defense was going to get me nowhere. So I threw an experimental punch of my own. It was a pretty flimsy one since Natasha batted it away like it was nothing.

It has been a long time since I've practiced so my attacks were weaker than usual. I knew I had to rely on strategy more than brute force at this rate. The only problem was Natasha was the queen of strategy. I grunted as I took a punch to the stomach. Natasha quickly dropped to the floor and tried to sweep my feet from under me. Thankfully I wasn't that incompetent and jumped away in time. I let out a breath before going back towards Natasha who stood there waiting for me. Hope surged through me as I realized Natasha was a little tired from all this non-stop attacks.

"All that laying around got you lazy?" Natasha taunted. I grit my teeth knowing what she said was true. But I would never accept that. And I definitely wouldn't go down without putting up a good fight. I lunged at Natasha with an animalistic snarl escaping my lips. She blocked my jab at her stomach and retaliated with one of her own. I quickly dodged and feinted towards towards the left. Natasha saw it coming and blocked it without even blinking. She suddenly smacked her hands against the floor right in front of me and kicked her legs up from behind her. Her legs came flying towards my face. I threw myself to the right to avoid getting pummeled.

I landed with a thud on the floor. I got back up almost immediately and was back in position. Punches and kicks were thrown back and forth for a while. I was beaten up much more than Natasha was. I had a bloody lip and an aching stomach from a particularly hard kick. I hunched over trying to dull the throbbing pain. Natasha was breathing hard from exertion but that was the only real damage I caused. I needed to do something fast if I wanted to win. Something unexpected. So I did the first thing that came into my mind. I headbutted her. She staggered backwards a few steps as her eyes widened for a fraction of a second. I was surprised that I finally got a solid hit in. That hesitation was a mistake. Natasha saw her opportunity and delivered one powerful sideswipe to my jaw.

I was knocked out immediately.

* * *

 **Ok I'm back! Sorry for the long disappearance.**  
 **I had a severe case of writer's block. But I promise to try and update more regularly from now.**  
 **Also, expect the romance to start from next chapter. I know I've been focusing more on the story development than the actual romance up till now. So I decided to shift my focus on to the romance now.**  
 **I hope you like the chapter! And I hope you don't hate me for the really late update.**  
 **Is it late too late now to say sorry? :P**


	23. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

Whoosh!

A violent shiver passed through me as my eyes shot open in shock. I immediately jumped up and leaped a foot away. It was freezing cold! I looked down to see myself doused from head to toe in water. My shirt was completely see-through and there was already a new puddle of water forming where I stood. I looked up with wide eyes as I hugged myself in a feeble attempt to keep myself warm. More violent shivers traveled up my spine as I tried to keep my teeth from chattering. I looked around the room to find that I was still in the training room with everyone staring at me in concern. The only one who didn't seemed as concerned was Natasha. She was holding a bucket with an amused smile on her face.

I stared at her as I tried to figure out what happened. These fainting spells were happening way too often. I'm pretty sure I blacked out at least three times in the past two weeks. That is not normal. "Did I hit you too hard? You seem clueless." Natasha asked teasingly. I remembered with a scowl that Natasha knocked me out rather easily. Although seeing the red welt on her forehead made me feel a little better. A small laugh escaped my lips as I thought about the move I pulled. It was idiotic yet completely genius according to me. Who would've seen that coming? Definitely not Pietro. I slightly giggled as I thought about his stupid catch phrase. As soon as the giggle left my lips, my hands flew up to cover my mouth as I grimaced. Ugh I sounded like a lovesick ten year old. It was mortifying.

Unfortunately my eyes seemed to have a mind of their own as they flew up to meet Pietro's eyes. His blue eyes were sparkling with amusement as he watched my cheeks warm up in embarrassment. Wait a second. Sparkling? Since when did his eyes sparkle? I was just about to smack myself when the reason for my inner turmoil spoke up. "Shouldn't she be taken to the medic? There's a bruise on her jaw." Pietro asked. I nodded in agreement for the sole reason of escaping that place. I didn't realize what I was getting myself into.

"Fine. Pietro, take her to the medical wing. Everyone else will practice."

Pietro smirked mischievously at me before cracking his knuckles. I looked at him with a bewildered and slightly scared (though I'll never admit that) expression. What exactly did he have in mind? I almost considered asking to stay here. Especially after my weird thoughts. I didn't want anything to accidentally slip out off my mouth. I was snapped out of my thoughts by a warm feeling on my back and on the underside of my legs. I no longer felt the ground under me as I was carried bridal style towards the exit by Pietro. A light blush dusted my cheeks as I thought about the awkward position I was in. "Put me down! I'm perfectly capable of walking!" I protested after coming back to my senses. I was not going to be a damsel in distress. No matter how dizzy I was.

"Not happening, princess."

I huffed and glared at Pietro before giving up and just accepting the help. After that the long walk to the infirmary was filled with a silence that I didn't really mind. It was almost out of character since we were always bickering about something. It was a nice change. Although I knew Pietro hated silence, I just couldn't bring myself to do anything about it. I did nothing but just lay there soaking in the heat that was practically radiating from Pietro's body. A feeling of security and comfort washed over me like a tidal wave. It was a feeling I hadn't felt in a long time. I let out an involuntary sigh of content. Unfortunately the peace was broken by an irritated voice.

"What happened this time?"

I looked up to see the too familiar face of Dr. Anderson. He was giving me a disapproving look. I sheepishly grinned back at him and just shrugged in response to his question. He sighed in defeat and signaled Pietro to take me to a room down the hall. He set me down on the bed and took a few steps back to sit on a chair. I immediately missed the warmth. Another shiver went down my back which didn't go unnoticed by Pietro. He stared at me as if contemplating something before getting up and leaving. I scowled at his back as he left me here to freeze. I was kind of hurt that he didn't care that I was pretty much frozen to the bone but I immediately brushed the thought away. It shouldn't matter to me. At least that's what I repeated to myself like a mantra.

A sharp cringe-worthy giggle pierced through the silence hanging around me. My head snapped up looking for the source of the irritating sound. It was coming from outside the room and it was approaching fast. The door burst open as a young pretty nurse walked in backwards fluttering her eyes at the person on the other side of the door. I craned my neck to get a look at the person that captured the nurse's attention. She continued chattering with the mystery person who had yet to speak. As I sat there scrutinizing the annoyingly pretty nurse, my eyes fell upon the bundle of towels in her arms. I perked up immediately at the sight of the towels and cleared my throat rather rudely. I had bigger problems at that moment. I didn't give a rat's ass about manners when I was slowly turning into a human icicle.

The nurse glared at me before a sickly sweet smile spread across her face. Wow she was really trying to impress whoever was on the other side of that door. She strutted towards me trying to look all high and mighty. I hated her already. I know it's bad to judge a person from first impressions but I just couldn't help it. She had one of those faces.

"Hi! I'm Tanya! I heard that somebody needed towels."

Ignoring the fact that she was semi-baby talking me, I made a lunge for the towels and quickly created a blanket cocoon of bliss. I was finally dry and warm. I looked up to thank Tanya when Pietro came in.

Tanya visibly perked up. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and fluttered her eyes at Pietro. Classic flirting technique. An unpleasant feeling settled at the bottom of my stomach when I realized this. It quickly turned into a stab when Pietro politely smiled back at her. Was he actually falling for that act? I didn't get to ponder over it that long as Pietro turned to look at me. He gave me a once over before asking, "Are you feeling better?".

"Yeah," I answered glumly.

He gave me a concerned look but didn't say anything. Tanya glanced over at me before turning to Pietro, "Oh, she should be fine. By the looks of it she just has a few bruises. You don't need to worry."

Pietro thanked her with another smile before turning around to grab a chair to sit in. He pulled it towards the edge of my bed and sat. He surprisingly had no smart comment aimed at me. This just led me to become more irritated with him. What was wrong with me? Tanya also grabbed a chair and sat next to him. I looked at her with a confused expression. She saw this and cleared my confusion by saying, "I'm supposed to stay here with you until the Doc gets here."

Great.

For the next ten minutes I was stuck there on that bed listening to Tanya's incessant chatter and Pietro's occasional replies. He tried talking to me but Tanya's voice immediately cut in and brought the conversation to a halt. Ten minutes have never felt so long. It was sickening. I found myself praying to be released from this twisted version of hell. I don't know why I was so bothered by Tanya's presence. Never have I been so annoyed because of one person. When Dr. Anderson finally decided to grace us with his presence, I almost jumped in relief. Freedom!

Tanya looked up with slight disappointment. She quickly left after finding out from the doctor that no help was not needed. The examination barely lasted two minutes before Dr. Anderson told me that I had a few bruises and a slight concussion. The scolding that followed was much longer. Pietro sat in the room throughout the whole thing smiling amusedly. This just irritated me for some reason. As soon as Dr. Anderson gave me a bottle of pills and told me I could leave, I jumped to my feet and quickly rushed out of the room. I heard Pietro calling me but I didn't bother to turn around. I didn't really want to talk to him. I knew I was being unreasonable as he didn't even do anything but I couldn't help it.

I hated this feeling.

Tears blurred my vision when I realized with a start that I may have feelings for Pietro. After all we've been through, could I have developed a certain fondness for the silver haired idiot?

I hope not.

* * *

A/N

Hey guys! I'm really sorry for what may be the latest update the world has ever seen. I know I've been missing for a while but I have a reason. I lost all interest in this fanfiction a long while back because I didn't really know where to go with it. I got caught up in work and eventually writing this was just a distant thought that was pushed to the back of my head. I recently rediscovered this and decided that I should at least try to finish it. I'll try to update but I make no promises. My writing style also drastically changed but I'll try to write this in the same way as before. Again, I'm really sorry.

On a different note, how do you guys like this chapter? Do you think Adrianna's response was appropriate? How do you think Pietro will feel about being ignored?


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